the Other Slayer
by cora-91
Summary: Buffy's world is turned upside down when Cora Beckmann comes to town, a girl with the abilities of a Slayer and who has an interesting history with Angelus. *please read and review* UPDATE-just to make it clear-this is more angelus oc, not angelus buffy
1. Chapter 1

The town of Sunnydale was silent as the old Chevy convertible pulled to a stop outside the largest of the town's nine cemeteries. Although the windows of the Chevy were usually blacked out during the day time, the darkness of the night allowed the man to leave the top down and enjoy the night air as he drove. The girl in his backseat barely stirred during the drive, not that he cared. He had already done more than enough in the form of saving her life, and now he was fulfilling his agreement and bringing her here, for someone else to take care of. Taking care of the girl was no longer his problem. Killing people was more his style.

With a contended sigh he turned off the engine. As much as he hated to admit it, he could never kill the girl; he had too much fun with her while she was alive. Most importantly, _not _killing her was essential to keeping the long-term contract he had agreed to years before she had even been born. He got out of the car and leaned into the back seat to pick her up. At some point throughout the drive to Sunnydale he had had an urge to cover her up with an old blanket he had found in his trunk. Now he was cursing himself for not putting it underneath her. She was still bleeding; he could smell it. And he hoped to God she hadn't ruined his leather seats.

He scooped her up with a gentleness that he had forgotten he was capable of and then started across the cemetery grounds with her. She was freezing, he could see her shaking, and he laughed to himself when she attempted to duck her head into his shoulder to stay warm. She obviously hadn't been conscious long enough to figure out who it was that was carrying her. Last time she had seen him, she had been ready to kill him herself she had been so mad at him.

Everything was quiet in the old cemetery. It was a calm and peaceful night, but the vampire was angry. Where was the evil, the fighting, the blood? He had been hoping to find a nice meal somewhere nearby after he dropped his girl off. Of course, he had a warm, injured human body stupidly snuggling up to him in his arms, and he couldn't even bite her. Well, he probably could, but when she healed and her strength returned she would kill him. He knew better than to take advantage or her in her weakened state, no matter how good her blood smelled to him.

_The slayer must be doing her job_, he thought to himself. _There's no other reason a Sunnydale cemetery could be this quiet._ But as long as he was around, he planned on livening the place up for her. He hadn't seen the Slayer in almost two years, not since the fiery little blonde had freed him from that Gypsy curse, freed him from that torturous soul. Since then his life had been blood and corpses, torture and violence. He was desperately trying to forget that terrible year when he had worked along side the Slayer actually _slaying_ evil and, worst of all, actually _loving _her on the side. He shook his head quickly to clear any thoughts of that terrible year, just grateful to be his old self again.

Angelus suddenly felt something sticky on his hand that was supporting the girl's back. Shifting her body weight against his chest, he held up his hand to examine what it was. Thick, red blood shined from his hand in the moonlight. Despite the girl's bleeding, he could hear her heartbeat. He could practically feel her pulse thundering against his body. Yes, she was hurt badly, but the girl would live. She was stronger than most ordinary humans and even when she was beaten this badly, she would survive. He knew she wasn't one to give in that easily.

He was still contemplating the blood on his hand when he heard a rustling in the trees up ahead of him. Shifting the girl more comfortably against him again, he lengthened his stride and headed purposefully to where he was going. He was anxious to drop off the girl and move on to more interesting activities. The night was young, and he was hungry.

He was so absorbed in the thought of what the rest of the night held in store for him that he had nearly forgotten about the disturbance that he had noticed ahead of him. But there was no mistaking that tingling in his throat. He knew who waited ahead; he could nearly taste her.

She had been watching him for the last couple of minutes, peeking out from among her hiding spot in the trees. Hiding was definitely not her style. She much more of a jump-out-of-the-trees-and-get-this-stuff-done kind of girl. But the vampire who she was spying on required her attention. There was no mistaking the history she had with him or the feelings that she had in her stomach now about potentially going up against him. But she had killed him before, and she would gladly do it again.

What confused her was the girl that the vampire carried. He carried her almost reverently, careful not to disturb or hurt her. She had seen the blood that was on the vampire's hand. What was he planning on doing to the poor girl? From her position in the trees, she couldn't tell how old the girl was. Lying there wrapped in a blanket in the vampire's arms, she looked very small and very comfortable for someone who was probably being carried somewhere only so that she could be tortured for days and eventually eaten.

The vampire smiled again. His smile became even wider and he actually laughed. He couldn't believe that the stupid girl thought she was spying on him unnoticed. Then his smile faded. He was getting tired of her. He wondered if he had time to kill her and still get his injured package delivered before she bled to death. Despite his attempts to

The girl stretched her legs and stood up from where she had been crouched on the ground. This was ridiculous. She knew that he knew she was there. Why put off the inevitable? Buffy Summers stepped out from behind the trees directly into Angelus' path.

"Hiya sweetie." Angelus curled one lip upward in a cocky half smile. "Miss me much?"

Buffy was unimpressed. She knew that he could take her by surprise if she wasn't prepared. Despite being evil again, his face was still that of Angel's, her first love. But if she allowed herself to see that, he would win. She briefly reminded herself that Angel was gone—dead—and that Angelus was all that was left of him.

"You should have stayed away, _honey_," she mocked him with a smile, but her hand tightened on the stake that was in her shoulder bag.

"Oh, I tried. But there's just something about Sunnydale. It's not the sun…it must be all the delicious people just walking around waiting to be eaten. I heard the population was getting out of control again baby, thought I'd stop by. Lend a hand."

"It looks like you've already been busy," Buffy said with a nod towards the unconscious girl in his arms. "Give me the girl, Angelus." She was all business. Save the innocent, slay the vamps, ignore the evil bastard of a vampire who was standing before her.

"But she's so close to dying. You might as well just leave her with me." Angelus practically shuddered with excitement—he had been craving a fight with his ex. He couldn't wait to destroy her.

"I'll kill you," Buffy countered. She had already started inching her way towards him, her body tightened and ready for a fight. Her main concern was the girl. She wasn't sure if she was ready to take on Angelus that night, but if he put up a fight, she would deal with it.

"No lover, you don't get it. She's _so_ close to dying. Like, I've got to get her somewhere now before she _does_ die." Angelus held up his bloodstained hand. "You see, I know this might be hard to hear, but I've found another woman. Buffy, I think it's _love_." Angelus smiled widely. He loved to see the moment of insecurity cross the Slayer's face. _This chick still loves Angel_, he thought. _How pathetically freaking cute._

Buffy was almost in the perfect position to swing her legs around and knock Angelus' legs out from underneath him before he had a chance to stop her. She prepared herself for the attack. If she could knock the girl out of Angelus' arms, then hopefully she could fight him off just long enough before he gave up, or at least until she figured out a better strategy. She took her last step forward, ready to attack.

"Hm, hm hm." Angelus shook his head back and forth and wagged a finger from his free hand at her. "Take another step and I'll finish her." With his shoulder, he nudged the girl's head into a different position so that her bare neck was exposed and facing up to him. His faced transformed quickly into his vampire guise. With a grin aimed towards the Slayer, he slid his fangs expertly over the skin at the base of the girl's neck, just piercing her skin enough to leave a trail of blood where his teeth had been. A voice in his head reminded him that she was going to kick his ass when she got better, but the blood leaking out of the small slice in her neck smelt so good that he ignored the voice. He savored the look of terror on the Slayer's face as she watched him enjoy the scent of the girl's blood.

With that, Buffy was ready to attack. She didn't care if the girl got thrown to the ground in the scuffle—she would be better off being dumped out of Angelus' arms than if Buffy allowed Angelus to carry her off and suck her dry later. Buffy started to swing her leg around to send a swift kick to the back of Angelus' knees, hopefully to send him falling to the ground. Before she could put her move into action, the bundle in Angelus' arms stirred, and a sound came out from underneath the blanket. Buffy wasn't sure why it had caused her to hesitate, but she did.

The voice seemed frail, but there was a power behind it that Buffy wasn't sure of. Actually, she and Angelus had both been so far into their little game that neither had caught what the girl had said.

The girl tried to stretch in his arms, and a sharp gasp of pain escaped her lips in the process. Had that really just come from her? She couldn't remember being in this much pain. She opened her eyes and looked up at the strong man holding her. Her vision was foggy from being kept in the dark for so long, but as her eyes adjusted to the moonlit night, she recognized the face. Of course! She had been listening to him speak for the last few minutes, but strangely, her exhausted brain couldn't put the angelic face to the familiar vampire's voice. At least she knew she wasn't in any immediate danger. He wouldn't hurt her.

Her heavy eyes started to close again when she remembered something else. There had been another voice. She attempted to twist her neck around to see whom Angelus had been quarreling with, but she was met with a fresh stab of pain from her abdomen. She tried a different approach, but when she made the effort to bend her head under and look around Angelus' arms, she found even worse pain coming from her back. She took stock of herself and realized that she couldn't move her left arm and that her right leg was throbbing with pain as well. What the hell had happened to her?

Angelus and Buffy had stayed frozen in their positions while the bewildered girl attempted to take in her surroundings. Buffy was preparing herself to fight or flee, depending upon whether or not this girl she had been trying to save turned out to be good or evil. Angelus was staring down inquisitively at the now awake girl in his arms. He supposed he wouldn't get to fight the Slayer anymore now that his package was awake, and he was a little annoyed. He relaxed back into his human features.

Finally, the girl succeeded at twisting her body around enough so that she could turn her head to see who was standing in Angelus' path. The blonde girl who stood facing Angelus looked about her age, eighteen, maybe a year older or so. She looked fit and, well, she looked like she was ready to kick some ass. Regardless of the confused look the stranger currently had, she looked like she could inflict some major damage. The thought of that made the injured girl smile. God, she hoped Angelus would get his ass kicked sometime soon.

Buffy couldn't take her eyes off of the person in Angelus' arms. She was Buffy's age probably, Buffy's height, maybe Buffy's weight too. From there, the similarities ended. The girl's hair was a deep, rich shade of brunette, a shade so rich that many people spent hundreds of dollars attempting to achieve that same color at hair salons across the country, but never succeeded. Her eyes were so dark they appeared black in the unlit cemetery. Under her eyes, however, were layers of dark purple and gray circles. The girl looked exhausted. Her skin was very pale. Buffy thought back to what Angelus had been saying—the girl did look very close to dying. Buffy had been so focused on scrutinizing the girl's condition, she was taken aback when she looked to the girl's face again and found her smiling at Buffy. Buffy cocked her head slightly to the side in contemplation. Who was this girl?

Finally, the bundle in Angelus' arms found her voice and spoke again, "My God. You're Buffy, you're the Slayer."

Buffy blinked and then recovered. Her voice was strong and sure, despite how weak she appeared. "Yeah, I'm the Slayer. Who are you?"

"Oh, right. Sorry, I forgot we don't actually know each other. My real name's Calla Beckman, but you can call me Cora."


	2. Chapter 2

"This is cute, girls. Really." Angelus returned his attention to Buffy. "Now that we're all introduced, can I kick your ass?"

Buffy was still too unsure to come up with one of her signature comebacks. Luckily, a familiar figure behind her interrupted before she had the chance to reply.

"Are you all having a right old time exchanging insults? Because I think there's a girl who's supposed to have been delivered to me by now." Spike was agitated. He couldn't count on that damned Angelus for anything.

"Spike?" The weak voice sounded hopeful at seeing the bleached blonde vampire.

"Yeah, pet, it's me." Spike crossed in front of the Slayer's path and addressed Angelus. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Spikey, boy." Angelus grinned. "I've been working. You have any idea how many damn things I had to kill in order to get to her anyways? It was hell."

Both vampires had quickly forgotten about the frustrated Slayer staring angrily at Spike's back.

"You'd know. How is she?" Spike took another step towards Angelus when Cora's eyes blinked open again and she smiled at Spike.

"You can talk to me you know. I'm right here." She gave a half smirk to Spike before turning to Angelus. "You can put me down now."

"Yeah…not so sure about that girlie." Angelus shifted her in his arms again so as to show the younger vampire all the blood on his hand. "She's pretty bad Spike. She might've even ruined my backseat. I'll be scrubbing blood out of the leather for the next century."

"I don't really give a damn about your car Angelus. Let's get 'er inside. The crypt's just up a little ways."

Cora resisted as Angelus started to move with her again. It was one thing to be carried like a child when she was unconscious, but couldn't they let her walk now at least the rest of the way?

"Squirm again and I'll bite you," Angelus warned sharply. Then he grinned. "Really, go ahead. I'd enjoy it."

"Bite me and I'll stake your ass." Cora could hardly keep her eyes open, but she wouldn't let Angelus get the best of her. It had been forever since she had last spoken to the vampire, and the last time they had parted it had been after hours of fighting and screaming. It felt unnatural to be back in his arms and to be bantering with him like old times again.

Buffy had been silent the whole time. Confusion and anger and frustration had risen up in her while listening to the two vampires' conversation. Spike was good. Or at least, Spike couldn't hurt anyone—not since the chip. In fact, she had grown used to Spike fighting alongside of her during her patrols. She had gotten used to trusting him during their patrols together, and she was also used to being the one in the loop not being the one left out.

What she was definitely not used to was him doing business with her ex—one of the most evil vampires ever to have been borne—one who had spent several months tormenting Buffy and her friends after he had lost his soul again. She was nearly brushed aside by Spike as he and Angelus continued up the path that led to the crypt that Spike had made his permanent residence. Making a fast decision, she quickened her pace to catch up with Spike to find out what was going on before Angelus had the chance to pass her.

"What the hell is going on here Spike?" She had had enough of being left in the dark.

"Later, Buffy," Spike dismissed her and glanced over his shoulder to check on Cora, who was desperately trying to resist falling asleep again in Angelus' arms. He almost laughed at the sight—Angelus carrying an almost fatally injured girl and he hadn't even been the one to injure her. Not that he should be surprised of course. As unnatural as it was for a vampire to be helping a human girl, it was the most natural thing in the world for Angelus to be helping Cora.

"No, _now_, Spike." Buffy grabbed his arm and spun him around to face her. Angelus halted in midstep behind them. Spike was already glaring angrily at her.

"Damnit, Buffy…"

The sudden stop had roused Cora again. "Spike," she quieted the vampire with her interruption. Then she turned her attention to Buffy. She regarded the Slayer for a moment and then spoke. "Buffy, follow us up to Spike's. I'll try to explain things to you when we're there and after I…" Cora shifted her shoulders and let out a quick gasp of pain again. "After I get…a little settled."

"I don't even know who you _are_, or what you are, or if you're..."

Cora interrupted Buffy's protests again. "I know this is difficult, with Angelus here and everything, but do I really _look_ evil?" Buffy regarded the strange girl for a moment, at a loss for words. "Well, I don't," Cora continued. "So you'll just have to trust me. Angelus won't hurt you at all tonight. You _won't_ hurt her at all tonight, Angelus." The vampire let out a snort and something that sounded like a 'yeah, sure.'

Cora rolled her eyes. "Please, Buffy. I have to get to Spike's. Just follow us there." With those closing words, Spike began to walk again towards his place. He could smell the blood coming out of Cora's wounded body. He just had to get her safe, and then the Slayer could bitch about this and everything else in the world all she wanted to.

So the unlikely group continued to Spike's crypt, which lay just up ahead on the other side of the cemetery. Throughout the end of the journey, the Slayer kept an unwavering eye on the evil vampire that followed just behind her left shoulder, still carrying his young charge. Buffy thought the girl might have fallen asleep again. Her breathing was short and raspy, and her right hand clutched at Angelus' black shirt tightly. She was definitely in pain.

Finally, they reached the old stone crypt that Spike had transformed into a small home for himself. The blonde vampire held the thick wooden door open for the rest of them. When Angelus stepped quickly over the threshold with Cora, Spike stepped in and closed the door behind him.

"Lie her on the bed," he ordered quickly. With two large steps, he descended the stairs that led into his crypt and crossed the stone floor to a brown trunk that was sitting in the corner behind a lumpy green couch. As Angelus' laid Cora down across Spike's old comforter, Spike returned with an armful of first aid gear.

"Where's all the blood coming from?" Spike scanned the girl quickly as he took out some antiseptic and poured out the contents of a large box of gauze strips.

"Check her stomach. I dunno what all they did to her down there, but there was blood everywhere. Not that I had much time to look around, but from what I did see, they had definitely been having some fun with her." Angelus started to back his way away from the bed. Saving Cora was his duty, but after his and her last time together, he wasn't sure that he wanted to stick around and be there for her again. "Not that I don't love Cora to _death_, but I was just supposed to deliver her…and, well I've done that."

"Oh can you stay here for a few bloody minutes longer you selfish ass? I might need some help." Spike had already started to unbutton the girl's black shirt.

"Fine, but when she gives the word—I'm gone. And watch your mouth, Spikey boy. Those weren't nice words." Angelus leaned against the wall closest to the bed and watched Spike as he removed Cora's shirt. He could smell all of the matted blood that had been hidden beneath it.

"You could have at least bandaged her up before you brought her," Spike scolded.

"Hey, not part of the deal. And neither was getting stopped by a Slayer. I think I'm going to need some extra compensation for the unexpected headache." Angelus glanced at the blonde who was watching Spike as he rolled up the tanktop Cora had on beneath her button down shirt. "Need some extra for the new backseat I'm gonna have to put in too," he mumbled quietly.

Spike ignored him. Instead, he concentrated on cleaning away the blood from Cora's abdomen so that he could see the injuries more clearly. As he did that, he noticed fresh blood coming from underneath her. "Damn," he cursed. "Angelus, could'ya get over here and lift her up? She's bleeding from the back too."

Angelus went and sat on the other side of the bed, gently lifting the sleeping girl up so that he could get a good view of her back. He pushed the tanktop up further and found the source of the blood. "Looks like someone had a great time carving her up back here." He grabbed one of the rags by Spike and started on Cora's back. No matter what he had told himself about keeping his distance from her this time, he couldn't leave her the way she was. Spike would take care of her, yeah, but she would need Angelus. She had always needed him.

"Wow, these guys were serious. Almost looks like some of my work," Angelus said.

With a heavy sigh, he took the antiseptic from Spike and started cleaning the wounds on the girl's back. There were three deep gashes that ran from the bottom of her bra strap to her hips and two others that crossed diagonally on top of those. She was going to owe him big for this. Why could no one respect the fact that he was _evil_ again? As in, soulless. As in, he didn't bandage poor little girl's wounds—not even Cora's. He shook his head and quickly taped the thick gauze pads against the cuts before they could start bleeding again.

He turned to Spike. "That good, doc?"

Spike had just finished covering the wounds Cora had sustained on her abdomen. They were long, deep gashes, similar to the ones that had covered her back. They stretched across her thin stomach, starting from where her lower ribs stuck out and ending just above her hips. Just like on her back, they were messy wounds. She had been cut up good.

"We need to put some pressure against those bandages. Keep'er from bleeding some more." Spike picked a roll of thick bandage tape out of the pile of first aid things he had brought and gave Angelus one end. They wrapped the tape tightly around her upper body, putting pressure against her wounds. Spike tucked the end of the wrap in and helped Angelus set her back against the bed.

"Alright, that'll be good for now. Her arm looks a little outta place, but I can see to that later. She'll be alright for now." Spike stepped back, content for the moment that Cora would be alright. He turned to Buffy.

She had been silent the whole time, eyeing the two vampires suspiciously as they attended to the girl. She could hardly believe that it was Angelus who was so carefully bandaging her wounds along with Spike. But when the old vampire stood up again, he regarded her with a cool stare and a malicious smile, seeming much more like his evil, cruel self.

"Well, I can see my work is done." Angelus wiped his hands on his black pants. "Spike, tell my girl I'll be by to see her later, after I've gotten some rest and a good _meal_." He directed the last word at Buffy with a smile. "I'm beat."

"You'll be stickin' around then this time?" Spike asked him, a frown on his brow.

"Hey, Cor's pissed me off plenty of times in the past. We go our separate ways for a while, but we usually end up back together." Angelus looked down at Cora with a deep look in his eyes, a look that would trouble Buffy for a long time.

He turned to leave and felt the Slayer's eyes following him as he left. "Almost forgot…" Angelus turned back around and bent over the bed to plant a small kiss on Cora's forehead, at the same time entwining one of his hands in her hair.

He gave Buffy a smug smile as her turned around again and headed for the door. "Had to say goodbye, lover," he goaded her with a small smile. And with that, he left the crypt.


	3. Chapter 3

"Explain. Now." Buffy stood with her arms crossed across her chest. She looked from the sleeping girl and back to Spike.

"I don't really know much yet," Spike said with a sigh as he sat down gently on the edge of the bed next to the sleeping Cora. "Angelus saved her. They took her and Angelus saved her. It's all I know."

"Why in hell would Angelus ever want to help a human? She is human right?"

"Yes, yes pet, she's human."

"So since when has evil Angelus started saving lives? And don't call me pet."

Spike sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I dunno, that's a little bit more complicated. Cora's the only one who can tell you all'bout that."

"Okay, but..."

"Listen. Go home, get some rest. Lemme take care of Cora for the night an'you can come back tomorrow an'talk to her yourself. She said she'd explain things to you." Spike stood up, hopping to usher Buffy out a little faster.

"Fine, I guess." Buffy looked unsure again. She was definitely not used to being so left out of things. She was the Slayer after all, the girl who usually ran things, who gave the orders. She was not the girl who sat around waiting to be told what to do or told what was going on. "Will she…I mean, she'll stay with you?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah, Slayer, she'll stay with me."

"And Angelus? Is he…will he be in Sunnydale?" Her face was hesitant; she wasn't quite as certain about facing her enemy and ex-love as she had pretended to be earlier in the cemetery that night.

Spike let out a small laugh. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure he'll be sticking around. He has a bit of a…soft spot…you could say when it comes to Cor." He glanced back at Cora, who had tried to curl up on her side on his bed. "You don' have to worry about him bothering you tonight though. He won't hurt you."

"Because she told him not to?" Buffy gave the sleeping girl and curious and disbelieving glare.

"Yeah, because she told him not to."

"I really don't understand this Spike." Buffy ran a hand through her hair and pushed herself up from where she had been leaning against the wall.

"Yeah, well, it's kinda a lot and it's complicated." Spike moved toward the armchair in the center of his crypt. He pulled off his signature long leather jacket and laid it over the chair. He sat down on the bed again and pulled off his boots.

Buffy watched him. "You'll tell me though right? Or she'll tell me?" Buffy motioned again to the unconscious girl.

"Yeah, yeah she'll tell you. Now please, I'm exhausted and I've still gotta change that comforter where she bled all over it before I can turn in."

Buffy regarded the ruined comforter. "That was a lot of blood for a human to spill and still be alive."

"Well Cora's special. You should know all about being special, being the _Slayer_ and all." Spike gave Buffy a sideways glance. He knew she was doing all she could to pump him for information, but he was too tired to really care.

"So she's like me? There are no other slayers."

"God Buffy. No, she's not bloody like you. She's different." He looked at her again and shook his head. "Not so bloody nosy like you that's for sure," he added under his breath.

Spike bent down over Cora again and turned to Buffy. "If you're still here then at least help me change the blanket. There's one in that trunk behind the couch."

He turned back to Cora. The girl's black tanktop was still rolled up from when they had applied the bandages. She had on one of the smallest pairs of jeans he had ever seen, and yet they were sagging around her hips. There was blood coated down one side of them too.

"Bloody hell she's gotten skinny." He inspected her. "I hope Angel tortured the bastards who did this to her before he killed 'em."

Cora was barefoot, and her feet were dirty. Spike figured he had better get her out of those jeans. She wouldn't be happy with him undressing her, but in her weakened state, he figured it'd be alright.

"Bring me a pair of boxers outta that drawer over there too."

"Like your boxers? Like go through your underwear drawer? Ew," Buffy complained, but she headed over to the drawers anyways. She opened the top one and pulled out the first pair she found.

"These are washed right?" She asked him.

"Yeah, they're washed, Slayer. Where's your mind at?" Spike quietly laughed.

Buffy returned with the clean blanket, an old black quilt with red embroidery, and with a pair of Spike's black boxers. Spike slid off Cora's dirty jeans and threw them in the corner. He took the shorts from the Slayer and quickly slid them up over Cora's skinny hips. At least she looked more comfortable.

Buffy was staring at the girl's legs. "Spike…" she began, "look at her legs."

Spike's eyes followed to where Buffy was staring. Cora's legs were completely black and blue, and to the side of her right knee there was an indentation where the bone should have been.

"Yeah, and she wanted to walk. Crazy girl." Spike shook his head in disbelief. "She'll be alright; right now she jus' needs to sleep."

He scooped her up in his arms and nodded to Buffy to change the blanket. She quickly pulled off the bloody comforter and spread out the new quilt. "Want me to pull it down?"

Spike nodded in reply, and Buffy pulled the bed down. When she was finished, she stepped back, and Spike laid Cora down into the bed. He pulled the blanket up to her shoulders. Cora rolled onto her side again and inhaled a sharp breath of pain as she did so. Then she relaxed onto the clean bed.

"Never seen her like this before." He turned to Buffy. "You oughta go. I'm goin' to sleep too." He walked to the other side of the bed and climbed into it.

"You're sleeping with her?" Buffy looked at him incredulously.

"I'm not _sleepin'_ with her, pet. God, where _is_ your mind? It's my bed, and I'm just _sleepin'_. Make sure you close the door behind you alright, Slayer? Come back tomorrow." Spike shook his head out of annoyance.

With that, Spike turned to face the opposite direction as Cora and closed his eyes. Buffy silently breathed a sigh of relief. What a night. She turned out the lights as she left and closed the old wooden door firmly. She couldn't wait to see what she found out tomorrow.

-------------------

Buffy woke up to the sun shining through her bedroom window the next day. She glanced at her clock: eleven-fifteen. She couldn't believe she had slept in so late. She didn't have any class or anything since it was Saturday. She had wanted to call Giles before she went back to Spike's, at least to let him know that Angelus was back in town and to fill him in on what she knew about Cora—which was practically nothing—but instead she got dressed quickly and snuck out the back door. Not that her mom would care that she was leaving, they were kind of past that stage. Since she had entered college and especially with her slaying, Buffy came and went as she pleased.

She covered the distance between her house and the cemetery quickly and made her way past the numerous gravestones to Spike's crypt without interruptions. Not too many evil things were up at this time, and no vampires would dare to come out on this sunny of a day.

She paused at the big wooden door, listening. She heard talking inside, and instead of just barging in the way she usually did, Buffy decided that she should knock.

She heard the talking stop, and before she had the chance to knock or run away, the door was suddenly swung inward.

"Aw Buff, you missed me already? Really, lover, I'm just _touched_." Angelus' hand covered his unbeating heart in a mock form of sincerity.

He leaned over the threshold menacingly, just far out enough where the sun wouldn't touch was glad that she was standing just far enough from the door so that she had the sun's protection.

He laughed as he realized he couldn't go further and addressed her in a low voice. "You realize I'm going to kill you right? Maybe I'll start with your friends, your watcher, Joyce." He smiled. "Cora can't protect you forever."

Buffy narrowed her eyes at him. She could hear Spike calling to Angelus from within. Angelus looked over his shoulder and replied, "It's that damn Slayer again. You'd think she'd know not to go knocking at the homes of vampires in the daytime." He turned back to her. "We're cranky when the sun's out," he said with a grin.

"Will you get your poof ass outta the way and let her in, mate?" Spike walked over and grabbed Angelus' hand off the doorframe where he had been leaning. "She's supposed to be here more'n you are anyways. Come in, Slayer."

Angelus stepped out of her way and Buffy walked into the crypt. She must be crazy. What the hell was she doing going into Spike's when Angelus was there? She looked past where Spike was holding the door open for her and saw Cora lying on her side on the couch.

She smiled at the girl. "You look better." Cora gave a small smile in return.

Angelus snorted a short laugh. "Alright well in case you've _forgotten_, Slayer. I am _evil_ now and I'm not about to sit around having a conversation with the girl I plan on killing. I'd much rather be torturing you." He gave her a wide smile.

"Right," Cora began, "Angel could you…?"

"Yeah, yeah babe. Spikey, my boy, I'll be seeing you later. Buffy, my dear, I hope to be torturing you next time I see you. And Cora," he smiled at the skinny brunette glaring at him from her place on the couch, "enjoy your breakfast. I know _I _enjoyed mine." With that, Angelus walked to the other side of Spike's crypt and descended the stairs that Spike had built and that led down to a sewer entrance.

Buffy shook her head in disbelief. "I need to kill him."

"Well, not just yet," Cora motioned to the bag of bagels and tray of coffee cups that were sitting on the small coffee table in front of the couch, "I kind of have a feeling he's going to be bringing me breakfast for a while. He doesn't like to see me like this. I think it's just because he can't have any fun as long as I'm lying here like an invalid."

Buffy had just arrived and she was already as confused as ever. Angelus actually _cared_ about the girl?

"Oh," Cora began timidly, "and uh, I think Angel may have killed the bagel shop owner. Sorry, um, about that. I didn't know though; I mean, I wouldn't have let him bring me food if I would have known he would be, well, eating too." She shrugged her shoulders in a what-can-you-do kind of way.


	4. Chapter 4

"Who _are_ you?" Buffy asked her rudely.

"Oh, I'm Cora. I…didn't I introduce myself to you last night? I was a little out of it…" Cora's forehead wrinkled in confusion.

"No…I mean, you did, but I'm sorry, I'm just a little confused," Buffy confessed, desperately trying to stay polite with the girl despite how frustrated she was feeling.

"Yeah, I know," Cora made an effort to prop herself up on her arm and turn to face Spike. "Spike, do you want to give us some time?"

"Yeah, love. I'll just go, well I just _won't_ go eat anything," he said. He crossed the crypt and then turned back to Buffy. "Keep an eye on her alright?" Then he went out the same way Angel had just left.

"I think he's still a little upset about the whole chip thing," Cora offered. She reached across to the table and took a sip of the coffee Angelus had left. "Hm, good," she said approvingly. She sat the cup back down.

"So," Buffy began, "you're feeling better?"

Cora let out a little snort. "Barely," she said. "I think it'll take a little while. It took a while to get this bad, so I guess it's not going to heal over night," she said simply.

"What happened?" Buffy asked sympathetically.

"Oh…" Cora considered Buffy. How much did the Slayer really want to know? "Well, my family kind of pissed off the wrong people…er, the wrong vampires I guess—a while ago actually." She looked up at Buffy. "Not that there's really a right kind of vampire either," she added as an afterthought.

"So, they took you?" Buffy pressed.

"Something like that. My parents worked together against vampires. I don't mean slaying them, like you do. They worked to bring down the big evils—the ones who had been working for centuries toward some ultimate evil, you know. You've fought them." Cora smiled at Buffy again. "Anyways, they got in a little too deep one time and found out some information that they really shouldn't have known, and they told me about it. But that's not really the only reason that the Grieshlin took me. For some insane reason they also thought that they could get to Angelus through me."

"The Grieshlin?"

"They're kind of like a coven of vampires. You know, the ones who try to act holy, long black robes and stuff? Working toward a big evil?"

"Right," Buffy paused a second while Cora took another drink of coffee. "So where is your family now? Aren't they looking for you?"

"Oh, no. My parents were killed a while ago, almost ten years I guess? I was nine."

"Oh," Buffy was caught off guard, "I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"No, it's okay," Cora gave her a friendly smile. "Really, it was like ten years ago. It's kind of the curse in my family too, no one makes it for long." A sad expression crossed over Cora's face for a brief moment, but Cora quickly shook it off and offered Buffy a smile again.

Buffy was curious about the girl's expressions, but her face quickly changed again and became pained as she tried to readjust her position on the couch. "Why did they want to get to Angelus? And why would taking you bring him to them?" Buffy asked.

"Oh, well that's the other part of the story I guess. He kind of pissed them off three or four years ago when he blew up a compound they were using."

"You and Angelus," Buffy started, not quite sure how to ask, "you're…together?"

"It would look that way," Cora gave Buffy another one of those sad smiles. "I'm sorry, you know. I know about you and Angel—the real Angel. He loved you, I'm sure of that. With his entire soul, Angel loved you. Angelus, he's a completely different person. Remember that."

Buffy tried to dismiss what Cora told her. She didn't want to be reminded of her and Angel's time together. Cora noticed her discomfort and quickly moved on.

"Anyways, Angelus doesn't love me or anything, if that's what you were getting at. I don't think he's really capable of loving, anyone, except himself of course. Without a soul…I just don't know if I could bring myself to call it love. Besides, the situation with him is a much longer one."

"I've got time," Buffy said.

"Right," Cora smiled. "Well, about a century or so ago my family made a pact with him. My family, we're a branch off of a small group of Gypsies that originally had the power to curse him with his soul. When he realized it, he kidnapped the three daughters of the time. My great-great-whatevers. He was ready to kill them, said he'd kill us all so that the secret would die with us." Cora smiled at Buffy. "That's when your line came in. The current Slayer of the time, a girl named Annabelle, stood with our family and offered to fight him. When he saw what he was up against, Angelus decided against killing the daughters. Instead, he and my great-great-however many greats-grandmother, the mother of the daughters, offered to make a Gypsy pact with him—something that would save a lot of people at the time from death—and Angelus agreed."

"What was the agreement?"

"He couldn't harm us, any one in our family. He can't even allow us to be hurt if he can help it—that was the deal. On our side, we agreed to burn the knowledge of how to restore his soul, and we agreed to, as he put it 'be there for him'. He said he had to get a little fun out of the deal, sick bastard." Cora laughed again. "So, there you have it. He can't hurt me; he is physically incapable."

"But I saw him bite you last night," Buffy began.

Cora's hand immediately reached for her neck, searching the skin until she found two straight scabs at the base of her neck. "Hm," she said to herself. "Yeah, I guess he kind of did." She looked up to Buffy. "That doesn't really count as hurting me though. That's actually one of our sides to the deal—he gets to drink if he wants. Not enough to kill of course, and he generally doesn't do it without my permission. We have our own understanding."

"How long have you been doing this?" Buffy asked her in disbelief, staring at Cora's neck.

"When my parents died, when I was nine? There was no one else for me to stay with, and since my mother was dead—the pact fell on to my shoulders. I stayed with him pretty much from then on." Cora cringed. "It wasn't like that," she said after looking at Buffy's face. "I mean, I was nine. He wouldn't—_do_ anything like that with me. He had a certain amount of respect for my mother and, well I kind of grew up around him. He was around my parents a lot. Actually," Cora scrunched up her face, "he kind of gave me the name Cora."

"He—he what?" Buffy was getting confused again. This was just too much information.

"Yeah. He has a sick sense of humor—Cora was the goddess of the underworld or something like that." Buffy looked confused. "Greek mythology?" Cora offered. "So yeah, to try and make the story short, Angelus has been a part of my life since I was born. He can't hurt me, and I don't really think he would if he could anyways. Like I said, we have our own understanding by now." She reached across the table again to drain the last sips of coffee from her cup.

The sound of stone grating against stone came from below the crypt.

"I guess Spike's back," Cora said, turning to see whom the noise had come from.

"You're _still_ here? Damn, Slayer, get a life." Angelus' spiky brown hair became visible as he ascended the stairs.

Cora watched Buffy's body visibly tense as Angel came closer to the girls. He walked confidently around the Slayer and went to stand by where Cora's feet rested on the couch.

"Seriously, lover. Your time is coming—we'll have it out, I'll kick your ass. But right now, some respect please? I've got to nurse my girl here back to health. That means I'm gonna be here a lot, so it'd be great if you would make my life a hell of a lot easier and _not_ be here a lot." Angel picked up Cora's feet so that he could sit down.

A gasp escaped Cora's mouth at the sudden adjustment of her body.

At the same time, Angel dropped her legs back to the sofa and clutched as his abdomen in pain.

"Damnit Cora. Stop being such a baby and suck it up. I'm not _hurting_ you."

"Sorry, geez. Some warning next time?" Cora shook her head. "Go ahead, Angel." He picked up her feet again and sat at that end of the couch, placing her feet back onto his lap once he was situated.

"Are you leaving now Slayer or are you just going to leave your fat ass parked in front of the TV? Because I was just about to turn it on." He waved the remote around to make a point.

"Spike said to keep an eye on you…" Buffy looked unsure. Sure Cora had told her that Angelus couldn't hurt her, but would Spike be upset if Buffy left them alone? She suddenly made up her mind. "I guess I'm staying."

"God you're annoying." Angelus looked at her as if she were a fly he wanted to swat away. "Well get the hell out of the way if you're staying. Passions is on and Courtney's been kidnapped. She might be being tortured right now and we're missing it." Angelus turned the television on, and Buffy sat down in one of the recliners that were set on either side of the couch.

She didn't allow herself to relax. Her Slayer senses were on high alert, especially with a vampire as dangerous as Angelus in the room with her. In fact, she hadn't taken her eyes off of him since she had sat down. It was just too strange seeing the evil vampire sitting so casually on the couch with Cora. Her legs rested easily on his lap, and one of his arms was relaxed on top of her legs.

Buffy's tension hadn't gone unnoticed by Cora.

"Buffy," Cora said quietly, "you can relax. At least for now, Angel's not going anywhere. His soap opera will keep him thoroughly engaged for the next hour." Cora smiled at her. "Spike got him into it a couple of years ago. After he watched the first episode, Angelus made me stay with him and watch the first four seasons so he would be caught up with the show." Cora laughed at the memory. "Seriously, four seasons, straight. He wouldn't sleep, and he'd barely let me doze off because he didn't want me to miss anything."

"Cora…" Angel began. She raised her eyebrows at him questioningly. "Shut up," he finished with a menacing half smile. "You're missing it."

"Please tell the nice Slayer you'll keep your hands off of her for now," Cora instructed him.

"Fine." He moved his eyes from the screen to meet Buffy's. "I promise to keep my hands to myself, Slayer." He looked suggestively at Cora. "Or at least…" His hand began to rub up along the side of Cora's leg. "I'll keep my hands on the couch."

He slid his hand up along the inside of her leg, moving up from her ankle and on towards her calf, enjoying the look of discomfort that was on the Slayer's face. He didn't notice when he ran his hand over the indent on the inside of Cora's knee.

"Aghh," Cora complained. She flinched back as his hand grazed the sore spot.

"What the hell happened there baby?" He asked curiously. "Someone put a freakin' dent in your leg."

"I think someone took a bat to my leg actually, when they first grabbed me." She said, trying to shrug it off.

"It'll get better baby," Angel offered, moving his hand back down to her calf, while still continuing to caress it. He turned his attention back to Passions. "Don't worry, I ripped the heads off of some of them for you."

"You haven't told me about that yet," Cora reminded him. "How'd you manage? There were dozens of them from what I could tell."

"Yeah well I didn't go in unprepared. I took some fledglings with me. Left them to fight and to die in the entry way and then I fought my way back to where you were. Literally ripped their heads off for you. When I found you, chained to the wall and bleeding and broken, I got you and laid you down somewhere safe. Then I went back out and taught all the rest of them a lesson. No one can hurt you but me. I'm the only one with that right." He smiled possessively at her. "Then I threw you in the backseat and away I drove. You do owe me a new backseat by the way, you bled all over it, babe."

"Yeah, whatever," she replied with a smile. She reached down and grabbed his hand from where it was resting on her calf. She entwined her fingers with his, knowing the loving gesture would piss him off. "Thanks, _babe_."

He pulled his hand out from hers and gave it a quick shake before resting it on her calf again.

Despite her past with Angel, Buffy found herself inwardly laughing at the odd relationship Cora and Angelus shared. Sure Buffy would kill him eventually, but in the meantime, it was nice to see that someone annoyed him as much as he annoyed her.


	5. Chapter 5

Buffy stayed at Spike's with Angelus and Cora until three, when Spike showed up. After spending more than an hour in the same room as Angelus, she was ready to leave. Cora had looked sad to see her go and had asked her to come back for a visit the next day.

Buffy went over the things Cora had told her. It still seemed impossible. Angelus was evil; he was cruel and malicious, and he was _always_ that way. Buffy exited the cemetery and headed towards Giles', lost in thought. The way Cora was so comfortable with him was unreal, but then again, the girl had known him since she had been born. Buffy knocked on the Giles' door. He opened it after a minute and smiled a warm greeting.

"Buffy, wonderful of you to stop by. Come in, come in." Giles beckoned her inside and closed the door behind her.

"Hey Giles. I hope I didn't interrupt you," Buffy said as she took a seat on Giles' couch.

"No, no, not at all. I took a day off from the Magick Shop today and I've been catching up on some light reading." Giles motioned towards a rather large stack of books on the coffee table.

"Right…" Buffy laughed at the ex-librarian. "So, I meant to come by after patrol last night to tell you about this, but I got tired, and then I was…occupied today."

"Buffy, what is it?" Giles switched into instant Watcher mode.

"Well, first of all…Angelus is back in town."

"He-what? Buffy are you all right? Did you two fight?"

"Yeah, Giles everything is okay. Confusing, but okay." Buffy took a deep breath, wondering how she would tell her ex-Watcher about Cora and her relationship with Spike and Angelus. "I don't exactly know how to tell you all of this without you thinking I'm crazy, but…"

Buffy spent the next half hour filling Giles in on everything that she had learned over the last twenty-four hours. Giles fired questions at her the entire time, and Buffy realized that she still didn't know everything yet. She couldn't answer half of them.

"It's just so hard to believe," Buffy said after she had finished telling Giles about her strange afternoon watching soap operas with the new girl and Angelus.

"Yes, it is quite strange," Giles agreed. "Although I suppose that if there really is a different side to Angelus, he wouldn't go around advertising it. Spike's a vampire, and even when he could still murder he had many human emotions. I suppose that we're seeing Angelus' slightly more human side."

Buffy was surprised at how well Giles was taking the surprising news.

"Not to underestimate him, however," Giles continued. "To you and me, he is still just as dangerous. You need to be ready for him should he make an attack on you."

"Should I go after him?" Buffy looked hesitant. "With Cora here?"

"I think our best place right now is the defensive. Especially with…Cora—is her name? As in, the goddess of Hell and the queen of the underworld? Well, that's certainly not encouraging."

"Angelus named her," Buffy explained.

"He _named_ her?" Giles shook his head in disbelief. "This definitely gives us a new view of Angelus." Giles removed his glasses and leaned against the wall of his living room. "Quite strange."

"He's not good though, Giles. He's _not _Angel."

"No, he most certainly is not. And that is rather important for you to remember. I do believe, however, that this Cora may be a lot more powerful than she seems. I don't know how else she could have such a strong influence on Angelus, despite the Gypsies' curse. For now, we need to be cautious. I do believe that we want Cora on our side. We wouldn't want to do anything to threaten her."

"Killing Angelus would threaten her?" Buffy raised her eyebrows at him.

"It would seem so."

"Fine. Then, I won't kill him, but if he makes a move against me, I'll be ready." Buffy stood up from her place on the couch.

"Yes, I think that it would be wise to be ready for him."

"Don't worry, Giles." Buffy was heading towards the door. "I will be." She reached the door handle and turned back to say goodbye to Giles. "I'm going to see Riley, I think. I'll talk to you some more tomorrow."

"Right, well, be careful," Buffy was already half way out the door, "and check in!" Giles called as the young Slayer closed the door behind her.

"We're certainly going to have some interesting days ahead," Giles said to himself as he watched the door close and put his glasses back on.

-----------------

After Buffy left, Cora had spent the next hour refereeing arguments between Spike and Angelus over who would control the remote. Both vampires betrayed the fact that they were hundreds of years old with their childish bickering. Finally, they both settled on one of the movies out of Spike's trunk: Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

"Cora…" The girl had been zoning out since they put the movie in. "Hello-o." Finally, with an evil grin, Angelus reached up and grabbed Cora's injured leg firmly. He ignored the sharp stab of pain in his gut as Cora let out a stifled scream. The downside of their slight agreement: if she ever felt threatened by him or if he caught her off guard and hurt her, he felt double her pain.

She turned to him with a clenched smile. "Yes?"

Angel gestured to the TV. "You're missing the fun."

"If you're referring to the blood and the torture and the cannibals, then I know I am. And it's on purpose."

"You know, pet, for practically being raised by vampires, you're quite the goody-goody," Spike commented dryly from his spot on the chair.

"Sorry I don't condone the whole killing and murdering and drinking of blood," Cora narrowed her eyes at him, and then turned back to Angelus. "I am getting hungry though."

"Really? I'm still stuffed from breakfast." Angelus kept his eyes pinned to the TV.

"Well, it's way past dinner time for the human and I'm hungry," Cora complained. "If you're both going to keep me locked up in this graveyard for a while then the least you can do is feed your prisoner."

"I usually just like to torture mine, not feed them," Angelus said.

"I'll go get you something, pet," Spike said, giving in and getting up. He headed for the door. It was past eight, and the sun had already disappeared beyond the horizon.

"Wait," Cora began, sitting up, "I want to go."

Angelus laughed loudly. "You can't even walk." Cora sank back into the couch. Unfortunately, he was very right.

"Fine, but nothing too greasy, Spike. I don't think my stomach can handle it yet."

"Yeah, sure, pet. Whatever you say." Spike closed the door behind him with a heavy thud.

Angelus and Cora sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to the screaming that emanated from the movie.

Then Cora let out a small growl.

"You're starting to sound like a vampire, girl." Angelus turned his head to look at her.

"I was locked up in that basement for almost two weeks, Angel, and now I might as well be locked in this crypt. I can't walk; I can't even get myself food. I'm _tired_ of being like this."

"But you're so freakin' cute when you're helpless." Angelus gave her a sly smile. Cora returned it with an angry look. "Fine, Cora, how about we go for a walk around the cemetery?"

"Really?" Cora smiled. "I actually don't know if I can walk though," she reluctantly admitted to him. She cast an angry look down at her bruised legs.

"I guess I can help," Angelus said sarcastically. He stood up from the couch and helped her sit up. He pulled the blanket off that had been covering her and evaluated her clothing. She was still in her tank top, her abdomen wrapped up in the thick bandages, with Spike's boxer shorts on. "You need some clothes. You might as well be walking around naked." Angelus grinned at her. "You _can_ walk around naked if you want you know," he offered with a sneaky grin.

"You're disgusting, Angelus," Cora countered. "I don't have any shoes." She contemplated her lack of clothes for a second. "I'm gonna have to get some stuff. You should take me shopping." She smiled up at Angelus.

"Yeah, right. Then dinner, then a movie…not." He helped her swing her legs to the floor. "We'll just take a few steps out of the crypt. It's warm tonight."

After helping her get up, he looped one of his arms around her waist, supporting most of her body weight for her. She looked up to him gratefully and then concentrated on making her battered body move.

Angelus noticed her cringing with each step. "I could just carry you. You wouldn't even bleed on me this time."

"Well I didn't mean to bleed on you the first time," Cora replied as they worked their way up the steps to the old wooden door.

"By the way," she began. "You bit me last night. You shouldn't have done that."

"I didn't _bite_ you. I scratched you. Suck it up." Angelus pushed open the door.

"When I heal and we cut all this nice crap, I'm gonna kick your ass for that."

"Yeah, I figured." Angelus smiled at her as they stepped into the moonlit night.

-------------------

Buffy had gotten halfway to Riley's frat house when she remembered that he was out of town with some of his friends. Instead of walking back home, she pulled out her cell and called Willow. She knew she could count on her best friend to pick her up and go patrolling with her. Plus, she bribed Willow with all of the new information she had regarding the mysterious girl who now resided in Spike's crypt and her own vampire ex. Willow had eagerly agreed and not ten minutes later, her car pulled up to where Buffy was walking on the sidewalk.

"Ready to go kill some baddies?" the redhead called from inside the car.

"Aren't I always?" Buffy got into Willow's little black car and put her seat belt on.

"Where to first?" she asked.

"Well, how about you pick a cemetery and we'll patrol there first?"

"Sounds good." Willow smiled at her best friend. "So when do I get to hear all that juicy news?"

"You drive, I'll talk," Buffy instructed. Then she took a deep breath and told the story for the second time that night.


	6. Chapter 6

Willow's reaction didn't surprise Buffy. The redheaded witch was shocked and then stunned. Buffy figured she wouldn't be quite as cool headed as Giles had been about the whole situation.

"Wow," Willow said for the fourth time in a row.

"I know," Buffy agreed. She felt the car pulling to a stop and she took in her surroundings for the first time since she had started telling the story.

"Willow!" she exclaimed.

"What?"

"I tell you all that and you pick _this_ cemetery to be the first one patrolled?"

Willow seemed confused. She looked around and then realized where she had driven them to—Spike's cemetery. "Oh," she said. "I guess I was so engrossed, and you were talking about Spike, and I just…"

"It's fine, Will. We've got to cover this one anyways." Buffy was already getting out of the car. "Might as well get it over with. I'm sure Angelus isn't around anyways. I mean, I know he likes Cora but I doubt he'd spend all his time with her. He is still evil." She shrugged.

"Whatever you say, Buff. Let's go slay." Willow looked excited and eager to participate in patrolling.

Twenty minutes later, she was running for cover behind an old tombstone as Buffy traded insults with a recently borne vampire. The vampire was new to the game, a twenty-something-year old man who had never even heard of the Slayer. The slaying was old news to Buffy, and she had him staked before he could even touch her. Then it was silent again.

"Willow, you can come out now," Buffy called.

Willow peeked up from over the edge of the tombstone. After making sure the vampire was dead, she stood up, brushing her pants off.

"I wasn't scared, really. I was just…just not getting in the way. It is _your_ slaying you know," she said informatively.

Buffy laughed. "It's okay Will. Let's keep going, we've got to check out the area around Spike's crypt before we're done. Fingers crossed." She smiled at Willow. Hopefully there was no roaming Angelus anywhere.

Willow fell into step with Buffy and the two talked casually as they climbed the slight hill towards Spike's place. As they neared the edge of the hill, they heard laughing.

"Shh." Buffy grabbed Willow and darted towards the back of Spike's place, away from the noises. After they found an old stone cross to hide behind, the two waited. In the distance, Angelus was helping Cora across the grass that led from Spike's crypt.

"Is that her?" Willow whispered.

"Yep."

"She's pretty."

"So?" Buffy looked at her with one eyebrow up.

"So, I'm just observing," Willow shot back.

They watched as Angelus reached his arm farther around Cora's hip so as to support more of her weight.

"She doesn't look so good," Willow noticed.

"Yeah, well I told you that didn't I?"

"I can't believe Angel is being so nice to her. All helpy and stuff."

"I know. I told you, Will, it's just weird. And remember, it's Angelus, not Angel anymore."

Willow caught the slight tone in her friend's voice. "Does it hurt? Seeing them like that?" Willow looked at her best friend with sympathy in her eyes.

"No," Buffy said as she turned to face Willow, "I've known that my Angel has been gone for a long time. We just weren't meant to be, Will. And now with Riley…I'm just finally finding someone who I can really be with, you know? And the two of us work so well together." Willow nodded in understanding.

The girls turned their attention to the two figures who were slowly moving closer toward their hiding spot. Suddenly, the two figures in the distance had become very quiet.

Buffy watched them closely. Angelus seemed to be trying to persuade Cora into something that she wanted no part of. He started to move away from her, but she grabbed his jacket and moved with him.

"No," Buffy could hear Cora say from a distance.

"Angelus, don't," the girl begged again.

Willow looked at Buffy with a concerned look. "What're they doing?"

Angelus had bent down and was whispering something into Cora's ear. He was smiling, but she did not seem quite as amused. In fact, she looked very annoyed.

Cora attempted to change her and Angelus' direction back towards Spike's crypt, but Angelus was relentless. He was headed straight for Buffy and Willow.

"Oh, fine!" Cora finally exclaimed, actually pushing Angelus away from her a little bit, although not far enough to where she would fall. He stepped back towards her before she lost her balance. Then she turned to face the large stone cross.

"Buffy, you may as well come out. He knows you're here." Angelus' face broke into a huge grin, and he turned back to whisper in Cora's ear. She tried to push him away. "And Willy? He knows Willy's here too?"

"Willow!" Angelus exclaimed loudly. "It's Will-oh Cora! God did they box your ears when they had you too?"

Cora smiled at him fondly. She enjoyed annoying him.

Willow looked to Buffy for direction, and Buffy gave her a resigned nod. Then they both got up from their hiding spot behind the grave.

"Oh hey Buff. I see you brought the witch along too." Angel's arm moved from Cora's waist to resting on her bony shoulders.

"Angelus shut up," Cora told him, trying shrugging his arm from around her shoulders. He looked down at her, his expression upset.

"Fine." He removed his arm completely from her, throwing the injured girl off balance. She stumbled into a nearby gravestone and leaned against it for support. "Seriously Cora you're starting to piss me off."

"Angel," she started, before hesitating. She needed the Slayer to trust her and that meant not hanging off of Angelus' arm and letting him treat her the way he was used to. "If you're that pissed off then go," she said dismissively.

"Ha," Angelus laughed and took a threatening step towards Cora. Willow shot a nervous glance to Buffy. Cora barely looked like she could stand up, let alone survive an argument with Angelus. Buffy shook her head to signal Willow that they were to stay out of it. The Slayer figured Cora could take care of herself.

"I'm not going to die without you Angel. I don't need you taking care of me," Cora said.

"You know what, you're a piece of work, girl. I oughta be taking you right now, tearing your neck open and sucking you dry."

"And you can't, so too bad," Cora shot back childishly.

"I can," he countered, taking another step towards her. He put a hand on either side of her head and, as he leaned against the tombstone, she was trapped between his hands. "Maybe I will."

"No, you wouldn't." Cora smiled up at him. "This isn't the way we play our games Angelus and you know it...now give it up." She tried to duck out from underneath his arms, but he moved his arm down from where it rested on the gravestone before moving his hand back and slapping her sharply in the abdomen, where he knew her injuries were trying to heal.

He smiled as she started to double over in pain, despite having to clutch his own stomach at the same time. Buffy and Willow continued to watch helplessly. Well, Buffy was never helpless—not ever—but she knew that this wasn't her place to interfere. She just prayed that Cora still held the power in her and Angelus' relationship.

Cora straightened herself up and leaned back against the gravestone for support. She shot Angelus a deadly glare. "I can't believe you just did that. Stupid vampire."

"Oh yeah, what're you gonna do about it, _dear_?" Angelus mocked her. She knew he was looking for a fight, but Cora knew that he also knew that she was in no condition to participate in one of their fighting games that night.

Cora looked over his shoulder to where Buffy and Willow were standing with stunned faces. Cora shook her head in disbelief. Why did Angelus have to be such a complete ass in front of the people who wanted to kill him the most? Sure, Cora loved it when he got his ass kicked, but she didn't want to give anyone more incentive to kill him than they already had.

Cora wrapped her hand around one of his arms that was still blocking her in. "Angelus, please," she begged. She didn't want to have it out with him right then.

"Cora, you _owe_ me. I saved your life, remember? You _ruined_ my car seats!"

"Will you shut the hell up about your damn car seats?"

"When you buy me new ones!"

"You're an idiot."

"Yeah, well, Cora, you're a freaking pain in the ass. You know what? Have a nice night with your new best friends," he gestured towards Willow and Buffy. "I'm going to go kill someone and pretend that she's you. Then, if I come back, you better have remembered who took care of you all those times after your damn parents went and got themselves killed." Satisfied that he had the last word in the argument, Angelus shook his head angrily and then turned his back on Cora. He walked across the cemetery and disappeared from sight.

"Sorry, Buffy and…Willow was it? He's not usually like that," Cora apologized.

"Oh you mean evil and sadistic? I thought he was…" Willow said.

Cora laughed. "Well, yeah actually he is. He's just not usually like that when I can't fight back. When I get better, you'll get the chance to see one of our _real_ fights. They get very interesting."

Buffy watched Cora as she talked. The gravestone was the only thing supporting her weight. Without it, she was pretty sure the girl wouldn't have been able to stand. "Do you want some help getting back?" Buffy offered.

"Um, yeah…if you wouldn't mind?" Buffy and Willow stepped on either side of Cora and put their arms around her waist, supporting her. They started to walk back towards Spike's crypt.

"Where is Spike?" Willow asked.

"He went out to get me something to eat a while ago." Cora shrugged. "He gets distracted easily. He could be anywhere right now. Hazard of living with a vampire I guess."

"Oh yeah, and the fact that they can rip your throat out with their teeth isn't a hazard at all," Willow began.

"Willow!" Buffy scolded.

Cora laughed again. "No, it's okay Buffy, she's right. Since someone declawed Spike though, I'm not particularly worried."

"And Angelus?" Willow wondered. "What keeps him from killing you?"

Cora looked to Buffy. "Oh yeah," Willow said. "The curse, I forgot."

"I see you filled her in," Cora said to Buffy.

"Yeah, well…" Buffy shrugged.

They were moving slowly. They had just reached the large tree that stood in front of Spike's crypt when a growling came from behind the crypt.

Buffy pushed Cora towards Willow and yelled at them to get down as a vampire in long yellow and red robes ran at Buffy. Half of his face was covered in a mask that matched the red in his robes. When he reached her, the Slayer was already in fighting position. She struck first, swinging a low roundhouse kick to knock her attacker's legs out from underneath him.

But before he could fall, he brought his legs up to his chest to avoid Buffy's attack, and then kicked out. His feet met the Slayer's chest and for a second, she was flying backwards in the air. She landed on her back with the wind knocked out of her, but she was up again in an instant.

She quickly gained her composure and hit the vampire square across the face with her fist. Then, with his concentration lost, she kicked his legs out from underneath. While he was still falling, Buffy leaped into the air and landed on top of him. She heard her name coming from behind her shoulder.

Buffy hesitated for just a second before she saw Cora out of her peripheral vision. The girl was tossing something to her. Without thinking and with her Slayer reflexes acting on their own, her hand shot out and caught the small wooden stake. She plunged it into the heart of the vampire.


	7. Chapter 7

She had been sitting on top of him, and Buffy was in midair for a moment after the vampire turned to dust. Then, her butt collided with the ground. She got up and dusted herself off. She turned to face Willow and Cora, who were already getting to their feet.

"Who was that?" Willow asked.

"I don't know," said Buffy, "but he definitely poofed the way he was supposed to."

"Grieshlin," Cora said, as if that one word could explain it all. "Or at least he was."

"The vampires who took you?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah, this one must have been sent to find me, or spy on me, or something. He won't get to tell anyone anything now." Cora smiled. "You're good, Slayer. When all this," she motioned towards herself, "heals, you'll have to let me train with you. I'm sure we could learn a lot from each other."

"You fight?" Buffy asked, as she resumed her position helping Willow to half carry Cora back into Spike's.

"Are you serious? I lived with Angelus—what do you think he bought me toys?" She laughed. "We fought, a lot." Cora thought a moment. "Actually, I guess we still do. I just win a lot more often now."

"You can beat Angelus?" Willow looked at the girl in awe.

"Well, I'm sure he lets me win half the time. I get the satisfaction of kicking his ass and then he gets his…" Cora stopped, letting the sentence hang in midair. "Well, he has fun."

The three girls had already entered Spike's crypt, and Cora motioned to the couch. With Buffy and Willow's help, Cora resumed her earlier position on the couch.

"I guess living here is…nice," suggested Willow.

"Haha, yeah sure, red," Cora said. Willow looked at her inquisitively at the nickname. Cora seemed to understand what she was thinking. "Oh, sorry, I mean Willow. Spike's talked about you before. Hazard of living with a vampire?" she offered.

"It's okay. So it's Cora right? You know you're named after the goddess of the underworld right? Well, I mean, only if you believe in Greek mythology, which you might not, do you?" Willow seemed nervous at possibly offending the girl.

Cora laughed easily at Willow's discomfort. "Yeah, you can call me Cora. Or Calla I guess. Either's good. My birth name is Calla Annabelle—from my parents. It was Angelus who started the Cora thing. He said I cried a lot or something. And there was this one time, for some insane reason he was always at our house, and he was sleeping on the couch one day. I was like four. And I wanted the curtains open in the living room. I didn't know he'd catch on fire," Cora looked sheepish. "He told my parents I was the devil. I guess he thought the name just fit?"

Willow was laughing, "Good for you," she said. "About setting Angelus on fire, I mean."

"Yeah well, I was always doing things to make him mad."

"So you _lived_ with him? Wasn't he evil all the time?"

"Evil, yeah, that goes with the vampire thing I think," Cora said mockingly. She smiled at Willow. "Living with him wasn't all that bad. He just had a hard time remembering that I was human and, as a nine year old, I had certain…needs…that I couldn't get on my own. Like food and water. He forgot those two sometimes. Then when he and Spike met up again, Spike was around a lot more, and so he started taking care of me a little more. I think he enjoyed having a human around. He finally had an excuse to eat more normal food without being made fun of so much."

"Wow." Willow stared at Cora with a mixture of amazement and admiration. "Did you live underground? Like in those stinky sewers? Or in a crypt like this one?"

"Actually, soon after he got me Angelus wanted to go back to Ireland for a while, so we were over there mostly. A house, not a sewer. It was always interesting with him. Not too many crypts though. Angel actually has a lot of class so we usually lived as large as he could manage at the time."

"Havin' a good history lesson you two?"

Spike had entered the crypt behind the girls. They hadn't even heard him enter. "Calla Beckman what're you doing up?"

"Geez, I just wanted some fresh air."

"Where's the poof?"

"Angelus got cranky. He hasn't been eating much lately—or sleeping much. He won't say so but he's been _worried_," Cora said with a smirk and a quick wink.

"Right, so if the poof's gone, I get my telly back." Spike plopped on the couch next to Cora and flipped on the television. "Slayer, red, you stayin'?"

Willow looked to Buffy. "No," Buffy said, "we're patrolling tonight. Just helping Cora inside when a big nasty attacked us. She can fill you in later." Buffy turned to leave.

"Coming by tomorrow Buffy?" Cora asked from the couch. She was really starting to enjoy having the Slayer around, and she knew it made Angelus crazy.

"Sure, I can stop by. I've got some homework to do before class on Monday, but then I can."

"Willow, you're welcome to stop by too if you want. We can get to know each other better?" Cora smiled at the talkative redhead.

"Sure, maybe I'll come with Buffy." From his spot on the couch, Spike made a snorting noise.

"What I meant was," Cora began, "Spike…do you mind if Buffy and Willow come back tomorrow?"

Spike turned his attention to her. "Oh no, by all means, pet, invite all the Slayers you want into my home, and her friends too. We'll have a right ol' time."

Cora laughed. "See you later," she mouthed as Buffy and Willow turned to leave Spike's.

Once they were gone, Cora adjusted herself so she was leaning against the arm of the couch and facing Spike.

"They were here, Spike. Buffy just slayed one outside."

Spike's expression turned hard, his eyes fierce. "Did he hurt you?"

"No," Cora shook her head, "No, Buffy killed him. I just—do you think he was the only one?"

"You've only been here a day, pet, and you haven't even been out of the crypt. I doubt they could have gotten information about you that fast. He probably just got lucky. Maybe he saw you out tonight for the first time, an' didn't expect you to be with a slayer. He was stupid."

Cora relaxed. "I guess."

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Then Cora spoke, "You know it's coming right? You know that the Grieshlin are up to something big?"

"Yeah, pet, I've noticed."

"Then you know we're going to have to start to get ready. We have to figure out what it is they're planning…what they're up to. And we're going to have to tell Buffy. We'll need all the help we can get."

"Gettin' worried already love?" Spike put one of his arms up around the back of the couch and studied the worry lines on Cora's forehead.

Cora ran her fingers through her hair and let out a long sigh. "I'm just saying. We're going to have to tell Buffy about the Second Generation sometime anyways. Or from what Angelus said, her Watcher will figure it out pretty quickly."

"That's all right," Spike said, not understanding her concern. "The way I see it, she oughta be glad about it."

"Maybe, but Buffy won't be happy that we kept it from her."

Spike put his feet up on the coffee table and added, "Maybe you should stop worrying about what the Slayer might think and concentrate more on gettin' yourself better."

Cora spun around so that her legs dangled from the arm of the chair, and her head rested against Spike's shoulder. "I missed you, you know," she said plainly, adjusting her body so she fit perfectly against his. Spike was always there for her when they were in Europe, and he had come through for her when he realized that the Grieshlin had taken her. She hadn't even realized all that he had done for her.

"Yeah, I missed you too, pet." He put his arm around her. "I'm gonna take care of you now though. Get you better, yeah? Then we'll focus on what's coming."

---------------------

Angelus had spent the last hour walking the streets of Sunnydale. It was getting late, and the place was quiet.

"Damn Cora," he complained. "Do everything in the world for that girl and she turns to the freaking _Slayer_." He rounded the corner and came to a small café. Inside, a man and a woman were exchanging an awkward hug. _First date? _Angelus guessed.

After the couple exited the coffee shop and attempted an awkward good-bye, the man headed towards his car, while the woman headed the opposite direction. From his spot at the corner of the café, Angelus smiled. Then, he started off in the direction the woman had taken.

--------------------

After Buffy and Willow's interesting encounter with Angelus and Cora, and after Buffy had slayed the robed vampire, the two girls had decided to call it quits for the night. It seemed like a quiet night anyways, Buffy had told Willow. They could afford to leave the other graveyards for the night.

Willow had dropped Buffy off at her house, with a promise to call her the next day so the girls could hang out. After spending some time watching television, Buffy decided that she wasn't ready for bed. She grabbed her bag, equipped with all kinds of pointy weapons, and told her mom she was going for a walk.

She wasn't sure where she was headed, but she walked towards the center of town, her eyes and ears open, searching for something to slay. She walked down the sidewalk, careful to peek down each alleyway she passed, just in case something was wrong. It was Sunnydale, and even during the most peaceful time of the night, something was always lurking behind some corner or in some dark alleyway. As she was heading down the next alley, she heard garbage cans crashing into each other a block ahead of her. Nothing about the scuffling that came from that direction sounded peaceful or friendly, and so Buffy broke into a quick and silent run. She reached into her bag for a weapon as she ran ahead to see if a vampire was the cause of all the commotion.

As she rounded the corner, her body poised and ready for anything, her eyes scanned the dark alley. There was a garbage can turned on its side on the ground, its lid lay on the other side of the alley. As Buffy's trained eyes scanned the rest of the alley, she saw the figures pushed up a wall behind a doorway. She had found Angelus, who was holding a blonde woman up by her shoulders. She was trapped by his strength against the building wall, and her neck was bleeding. His fangs dripped blood, and he let out a loud snarl as he heard her approaching them.

Angelus' head spun around to find Buffy. He could smell the Slayer before he had even seen her. He let the woman fall to the ground in a crumpled heap. He hadn't had his fill, but if the Slayer was here, he had much more important things to worry about.

"Slayer," he began, his vampire face distorted into a twisted smile.

"Vampire," she responded, pointing to him. "You're learning fast aren't you?" She mocked him, her head cocked to the side.

"Cute, Buff. You know," Angelus looked around him and then held up his hands towards Buffy. "Cora's not around right now. And _that _ means I get to kill you. No more protection for the wittle Slayer."

"I'd love to see you try, Angelus." Buffy's voice was confident and sure, and her hand tightened around the stake she had.

"Watch closely then, baby." Angelus closed the distance between them and waited a second before throwing the first punch.

The fight began easily. The two enemies took turns taking the offensive and throwing the punches, the kicks, and then switching to the defensive and blocking their offender's moves. They were well matched, but Angelus finally landed a blow to Buffy that sent her to her butt.

"Havin' fun now, Slayer?" Angelus kicked her in the stomach again before she could get up. She swung her legs out from underneath her to get her footing back, but Angelus, who had the advantage point of higher ground, kicked them back to the ground before she could get them underneath her.

Buffy's chest collided with the ground, and before she could make a move, Angelus grabbed one of her arms and twisted it backward, pulling her to a standing position, with her back against his chest. He bent her head to one side with his free hand and bent to bite her.

Buffy's heart pounded. She was trapped against him. Angelus couldn't win; that wasn't how they were supposed to finish the fight. Although Buffy's stake had clattered out of her hand when he had sent her flying to the ground, her bag was still around her shoulders. With her free arm, she reached in for the first thing she could find.

Her hands closed around a double-edged knife. She knew it wouldn't kill him, but it would hurt. She brought her arm back, and before his teeth could make contact with her skin, she plunged the knife towards his gut.

Both vampire and Slayer were surprised when the knife met an invisible barrier and flew out of Buffy's hand, clattering against the building wall more than ten feet away.

Angelus' head came up. "Well, that was interesting," he said. Then he bent his head back towards her neck. "You must have some terrible aim there Slayer." With another grin, he closed the distance between his mouth and her neck. When his fangs reached her skin, he suddenly struggled. He couldn't bite her. "What the hell!" he bellowed.

"Seriously." Buffy's rigid shoulders relaxed as she realized he wasn't going to get to bite her. But why not?

"What did you do," she demanded, taking advantage of his hesitation to swing her body free of his grasp. Angelus let go easily, knowing he couldn't touch her anyways.

"I didn't do anything, Slayer, what did _you_ do?"

"Nothing," she replied. She reached into her bag again and pulled out another knife. "Hold still," she told him. Then she ran at him with the small dagger. He stepped easily out of her path and laughed at her.

"Are you freakin' kidding me? Hell no you don't get to run at me with a knife. Come here, let me see if I can bite you again."

"No," she said simply, inspecting him. "Here," she consented, "hold out your arm. I'm not going to 'run at you'."

Angelus narrowed his eyes at the girl, and then held out his arm. She walked towards him, stopping at his outstretched arm. She didn't want to be any closer to him than he did to her. She took the knife and tried to slash it against his forearm. She couldn't even get the blade to reach his skin.

"That bitch!" Angelus shouted suddenly. "She must have done this. I am going to _kill_ her!"

"Who?" Buffy's eyes showed her confusion. "Cora? What would she have done?"

"I dunno," he said in an exasperated tone, dismissing the Slayer's confusion. "She's always doing something she shouldn't. Unless…" his sentence faded away as he seemed to realize something. "No, not possible." He looked at Buffy with an annoyed expression on his face.

Then his posture changed. His face transformed back into his human features and he turned away from Buffy. "Tell Cora I'm leaving Sunnydale," he yelled from over his shoulder.

Then to himself he added, "No way in _Hell _will I _ever_ work with that slayer." He turned out of the alley and then headed to where his convertible was parked a couple of streets away.


	8. Chapter 8

After helping the poor woman whom Angelus had bitten, Buffy headed towards her home, lost in thought.

Her confrontation with Angelus had sent her head spinning. She couldn't hurt him, and he couldn't touch her. But why the hell not? She remembered Angelus' surprise at not being able to bite her and then his irritation when he had discovered she couldn't cut him. He knew something that she didn't, and that bothered Buffy.

Changing her mind for what seemed like the millionth time that day, the Slayer spun around again and headed for the cemetery that she knew lay across town.

She wanted some answers, she thought angrily, and there was only one person who she could think of to get them from.

--------------------

Spike gently moved his arm out from around Cora's sleeping form. The girl had fallen asleep in his arms hours ago. He quietly got up from the couch and lifted her lightly in his arms. Walking over to the bed, he managed to pull the sheets back and laid her down softly.

As he covered her up, the young girl opened her eyes.

"Hey," she smiled.

"Hey, love." Spike straightened himself up. "Go back to sleep."

"Coming to bed?" she asked, as her eyes started to close.

"Soon, pet," he promised.

Cora gave him a soft smile. Considering she was living in a vampire's crypt, the bed was surprisingly warm and soft. Spike's quilt felt heavy against her body, and she felt safe and comfortable. She closed her eyes and gathered the blankets around her. Just as she felt herself drifting off again, the old wooden door leading into the crypt was swung open, banging against the stone wall behind it. The crash echoed in the crypt, the sound bouncing off the stones and seeming louder than it even was. Cora pushed herself up quickly, forgetting her sleepiness.

"Bloody hell!" Spike yelled, turning on whoever it was who had so rudely barged into his home. He had already slipped into his game face, ready to tear the intruder to pieces. He ignored the fact that if the person was human, he wouldn't be able to so much as poke them.

"Exactly!" the Slayer replied, standing in the open doorway.

Spike stared at her for a few moments, his eyes glazed with anger and confusion. "What?" he asked her, shaking his head.

Cora remained silent, watching Buffy's face.

"I've got questions, and I want answers. Now." Buffy walked the rest of the way into Spike's, ending a foot or so in front of Spike and the bed. She glanced from Cora to Spike. "From both of you," she added.

Spike growled angrily. "Slayer, it's late. We're _sleeping_," he emphasized the last word with a wave of his hand towards Cora.

"She looks awake," Buffy said looking at Cora.

"Yeah, when you come bustin' in here like you own the fu-"

"Spike!" Cora interrupted. "Put it away."

Spike looked at her, a moment's confusion on his ridged face, before remembering. His face morphed back into its human form. "Right, sorry, pet." Spike walked towards the open door. "She coulda at least closed the damn door," he said under his breath, as he shut it himself.

Cora gathered Spike's thick black quilt around her from where she sat on his bed. She looked up at Buffy through wide, but sleepy eyes. Buffy was upset. She was breathing heavily, her hands rested almost threateningly against her narrow hips, and her eyes had settled on Cora.

"I got into a fight with your boyfriend tonight," Buffy informed her.

"My…what?" Cora asked.

"Your _boyfriend_," Buffy said again. "Evil, soulless vampire who likes to kill people and bring you coffee in the mornings."

"Right, my _boyfriend_," Cora said, playing along with Buffy. "What's your problem with Angelus now, Slayer?" Cora used Spike's nickname for Buffy in her agitation.

"My _problem_ is that I can't kill him."

"That sounds like a personal problem," Spike commented dryly, leaning back against the cool stone wall of his crypt.

"No. It's not that I'm not strong enough to kill him. It's that I can't even _touch_ him."

"Buffy, just explain what's pissed you off, please. I'm a little confused, and I'm really tired," Cora said, closing her eyes and talking to Buffy as if she were a child.

"I found him drinking from a woman tonight," Buffy explained. "We fought, and, he…well, he had me. I mean, he was a second away from biting me when I found a knife. I tried to stab him, but it was like the knife hit a wall it couldn't penetrate. And when he tried to bite me, he couldn't get to my skin. He hit the same barrier I did. He couldn't touch me, and I couldn't even cut him."

Buffy shook her head, lost in thought again.

"So what the bloody hell does all this have to do with you bargin' in here, Slayer? You're a crappy fighter, so bloody what?"

Buffy glared at him. "That's not all, _Spike_," she said. "He was as confused as me for a minute, and then," Buffy turned to look at Cora, who was still sitting huddled under Spike's blankets, listening closely, "then he got pissed at you. He said you were always doing things you shouldn't be, or something. And he was saying something to himself about it all being 'impossible.' Then he told me to tell you he was leaving…and that was it."

Buffy looked to Cora, expecting the girl to understood what was going on and to help Buffy understand.

Cora stared ahead, lost in her own thoughts. She was pretty sure that she understood what had happened in the alley where Buffy had fought Angelus, but it scared her to think about it. Something greater than she had imagined was going to take place. Something that involved them all, and it probably wasn't something anyone was going to enjoy.

"Love?" Spike walked over to Cora. She was staring off into space, shutting him and Buffy out.

"Cora?" Spike tried again, sitting down by her and nudging her with his shoulder.

She finally looked up at Buffy. She stared hard at the Slayer. She was strong and confident; she was good, Cora decided. She would help them when the time came.

Buffy watched as Cora's eyes settled on her own. The girl's dark brown eyes looked at the Slayer with a deep expression, as if a million things were going on inside her head that Buffy could never understand. Buffy wasn't sure why, but at that moment, Cora seemed very wise to her, as if she had lived a very long time and had been through so much.

Buffy felt her anger subsiding as Cora looked her over critically. Suddenly the situation seemed much more serious than Buffy's initial frustration at not being able to kill Angelus.

Then Cora's eyes turned and met Spike's.

"It's big," she stated, and Spike seemed to know what she meant. His face turned grave, and he nodded in agreement.

"Nothing's too big yet, pet," he said, putting an arm around her waist.

Cora turned to Buffy, knowing the Slayer was still impatiently awaiting an explanation.

"It's the curse, Buffy," she said, as if that would clear everything up.

Buffy stared back at her blankly. "And?" she asked stupidly.

"Well, I'm not sure. It's happened once before, but under completely different circumstances. Angelus is bound to protect me, because of the curse. He can't touch you because…" Cora took a second to gather her thoughts, "because I think that you have a role in protecting me. So hurting you would be hurting me."

Buffy tried to piece all of Cora's words together in her head. Then she shook her head in confusion. "Then why can't I hurt him?"

"It's all bound together," Cora tried to explain. She looked thoughtful and frustrated as she continued. "He can't hurt you because you're going to make a difference toward protecting me. You can't hurt him because he can't hurt you…and so he poses no threat to you, but still, your killing him would pose a threat to me."

Cora shook her head again as if trying to clear it of all the confusion. "Did that just make any sense?"

"Yeah…" Buffy tried to grasp the meaning of Cora's words. "Yeah it does. But it sucks!" she complained angrily, flopping down on the bed next to Spike and Cora. "What did you mean 'it's big'?" she asked Cora.

"I don't know yet, Buffy. When I do, you'll know."

"This has something to do with the vamps who took you?"

"Yeah."

"With the vamp I dusted tonight?"

"Yeah, Buffy," Cora said, again sounding like a teacher trying to talk to a small child.

"Oh."

Cora let out a deep sigh, and then put her hands on her abdomen as a spasm of pain went up through her chest.

"You alright, love?" Spike asked her, putting his hand over hers on her stomach.

"Yeah, fine," she said, brushing his hands away. "I just…shit." She looked down at her hands. Her fingers were covered in red. She touched her tank top with the other hand. The blood that had seeped through her thin tank tip now covered her other hand as well.

She lifted up the thin shirt and saw that one of her gauze bandages was covered with blood. Ripping it off in frustration, she finally got to where one of the gashes had opened up and was leaking fresh blood.

Spike got up and went to where he kept his supply of first aid bandages. He returned to Cora with more ointment and bandages.

"God I'm so _tired_ of this!" Cora exclaimed, grabbing her long brown hair and flinging herself into a lying down position on Spike's bed.

"You're such a child," Spike condescended her. She pulled up her tank top for him, getting more blood on her hands in the process. After a second's hesitation, she jerked it over her head and threw it into the corner.

Spike raised her eyebrows at the girl's frustration. Lying in a black sports bra, her stomach and back still covered in white gauze bandages, Cora turned to Buffy.

"What're you doing tomorrow?" Cora asked her. Spike had already removed the bloodied bandage from her abdomen and was busy putting fresh antiseptic and a new bandage on.

"Uh…school I guess?" Buffy suggested.

"Want to go for a drive instead? I need clothes. I've been living out of a single tank top for days, and I've been going through Spike's boxer shorts faster than he does." Cora looked at Buffy mischievously. "He thinks not wearing underwear makes him sexier," she said in a low voice.

Buffy laughed. "Are we going shopping?"

"Actually, I've got a place in Santa Maria, if you don't mind the drive. It's a couple of hours."

"Sure," Buffy accepted. She liked Cora, and she definitely needed to find out more about the mysterious girl and her past before she trusted her too much. "Oh, but I don't drive. Like at all. Buffy and cars are not mixy things," Buffy explained with a smile.

Cora laughed at the other girl's words. "No problem. I drive. And I'm sure Spike would _love_ to let us take his car." She smiled at him.

"Ah ah ah," Spike shook his head as he rose from the bed. Cora rose to a seated position, her hands resting behind her, holding her up. She frowned at him.

He laughed at her puzzled expression. "Don't you remember the last time you _borrowed_ my car, pet?"

Cora looked at him innocently, her eyebrows rose over her eyes questioningly.

"I found it in the bloody river!" Spike explained. "And I found you on the _shore_ of that river a few hundred feet from it. It took me three months to get that car out and get it runnin' again."

"I thought I was doing you a favor," Cora said. "I figured that, with it in the river, you'd finally go buy something new." Buffy stifled a laugh.

"I like my car, pet. And that still doesn't explain why you didn't get _out_ of the car _before_ you dumped it in that soddin' river."

"Well," Cora started, "I hadn't exactly planned on it going into the river. That part was a mistake." Spike looked at her with a raised brow. "I was being _chased_!" Cora said, her hands rising up in the air as if that explained everything.

Spike laughed again. "By Angelus!"

"It was supposed to be a game," Cora said, turning to Buffy as if trying to convince her.

"One you're supposed to play with _other_ people's cars, love." Spike went to his drawers and pulled out one of his black shirts. He tossed it to Cora.

She pulled it over her head. "I was fourteen! Besides, Angelus thought it would be funnier if I used yours."

"Yeah, and it was really funny when you went through that guardrail and nearly got yourself killed."

"Aw," Cora said as Spike sat back down on the bed again. She elbowed him roughly. "And I thought you only cared about it because of your car."

"Didn't want you to die, now did I, pet?"

"You were racing?" Buffy asked, unsurprised that it was Angelus who nearly got Cora killed.

"Yeah. And it was fun, until Angel forgot that he was immortal and I'm…well…not." Cora laughed again at the memory.

Cora yawned loudly, and Spike bent down to unlace his boots.

"You gonna sleep with us now, Slayer?" Spike asked, turning to look at Buffy with annoyance.

"Oh," Buffy stood up quickly. "I'm sorry, I forgot it was so late. And I'm apologizing to you Cora, not Spike." The Slayer smiled. "Thanks for talking to me, I'm sorry for waking you up earlier.

"It's okay," Cora said. "We have a lot to learn about each other still."

"Yes, we do," Buffy agreed. "Maybe you can fill me in some more tomorrow?"

Cora looked hopefully towards Spike. "Well we still don't have a car yet…" she let the sentence hang in the air.

Spike looked back and forth between the two girls.

"Fine," he consented. "I'd be a damn crazy vampire to stand up to a Slayer and to a…well…to Cora."

Cora raised her eyebrows at him conspiratorially. Buffy looked momentarily confused again before she decided to just let it go. There were still many things she needed to know about Cora and jumping down everyone's throats about everything that she didn't understand yet wasn't going to help.

"Pick you up around ten, Buffy?" Cora asked, as she shifted under Spike's covers again.

"Sounds good," Buffy agreed, getting to the door. "Goodnight," she called as she left. She felt better about Cora already. Despite Buffy's history with Angel, it was becoming surprisingly easy to sit and listen to the other girl's old stories about growing up with Angelus. Buffy couldn't wait to learn even more about Cora Beckman on the drive to Santa Maria tomorrow.


	9. Chapter 9

Cora had arrived at Buffy's exactly at ten o'clock the next morning. Buffy laughed as she pulled the door to her house shut behind her. It was funny to see anyone other than Spike driving his beat up old car, but somehow Cora looked like she belonged in it.

Buffy climbed into the passenger's side seat and shut the door behind her; then she looked to her driver.

Cora was wearing the jeans that Buffy knew she had first been wearing when Angelus had brought her to Spikes. Despite the fact that they had been washed, Buffy could still see that a few dark bloodstains remained on the fabric—remnants of Cora's ordeal. On the top, the girl was wearing what Buffy could only guess was one of Spike's smaller black t-shirts, although it wasn't very small on the tiny framed girl.

"Morning," Cora said brightly. Her hair was loose and wavy. The long brunette locks fell way past the girl's small shoulders and to her mid back.

"You too," Buffy said. "You look like you're feeling better."

She really did, Buffy noticed. In fact, that may have been a bit of understatement. Considering how beat up Cora had been on the first night that they had met, she looked like a completely different person. Buffy couldn't believe that the girl was able to even stand let alone make a drive to Santa Maria. The rings around her eyes had already disappeared and her skin didn't have the incredibly pale color it had when she had first arrived. Buffy knew the girl's other injuries were nowhere near completely healed, but otherwise, Cora looked healthy.

"Yeah…amazing what being fed and sleeping in a nice bed can do for your health," Cora said. "Being chained to a wall and not fed anything for a couple weeks isn't exactly beauty rest." She started the car and took the main street that led out of town.

"How'd you know which house was mine?" Buffy asked curiously.

"Spike gave me directions. It was surprisingly easy considering how small Sunnydale is."

"So you've never been here before?" Buffy asked, curious to know more about the girl's past.

"Once, actually. Before you were here though…before you were even called I guess. I was ten, and…from what I recall, vamps had pretty free reign of the place back then. It's a good thing you came." She smiled warmly at the Slayer.

Buffy laughed. "Yeah, good thing I guess."

"Really, Buffy," Cora said sincerely. "You've done a lot of good here. I know that there are few people who even give you credit for what you do, and I'm sure it's tough. But people appreciate it, they just don't know it."

"Yeah, hazard of the Slayer job I guess. All work, no pay." Buffy shrugged.

Cora stretched in the driver's seat. "So, what was it like? Becoming the Slayer I mean. From what I hear, you weren't exactly Protector Girl at your old school. Cheerleader, I was told?" Cora cocked an eyebrow at Buffy and gave the other girl a sly smile.

Buffy laughed easily. "Yeah, it was pretty insane when I found out about the whole Slayer business."

For the next hour or so Buffy filled Cora in on what it had been like being called. How she had moved to Sunnydale, about her parents, her friends, Xander and Willow and Giles, about her relationship with Angel, and then Angelus, her quarrels with Spike, and about her high school, and then her college and Riley.

Cora concentrated on Buffy's history as she drove. She asked questions and nodded appreciatively at the different events Buffy had survived. She had laughed at things Willow and Xander had done and she had become quiet and sad when Buffy's story moved to Angel. Buffy had done so much as the Slayer, Cora noticed. A lot of good.

Buffy finally ran out of things to say about herself and then laughed as she looked at where they were. "Sorry, I just kind of talked us halfway through our trip."

"No, I liked it. I mean, I like hearing about it—the Slayer stuff, and your life. It's interesting. You've been through a lot," Cora noticed as she switched lanes.

"From what I've heard, so have you," Buffy replied, adjusting her position so she could have a better view of Cora.

"I guess," Cora said, turning to look at Buffy. "But it's hard to say that I've done anywhere near as much good in the world as you have."

Buffy thought for a moment, and then said, "I want to know more about you. I've told you my whole history, now it's your turn for sharing-time."

Cora laughed at Buffy's way of lightening the mood. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything! Start wherever you want," Buffy said enthusiastically.

So for the next hour's drive Cora told Buffy stories. She told Buffy about how when she was five, Angelus had convinced her to drink a cupful of cherry-flavored rum, causing her to be sick for the next three days and causing her mother to nearly beat Angelus unconscious. She skipped over anything about her parents' deaths and moved on to telling Buffy stories about living with Angelus after their deaths.

"There was this one time," Cora began, remembering another story. "You'll probably like this one…" Cora paused, rethinking what she was saying. "Unless you like Drusilla that is…you don't like Dru do you?"

"Definitely not a fan of the crazy bitch, no," Buffy said.

"Good. You'd be surprised how many people are like head over heals for her, despite the crazy." Cora laughed.

"Anyways," she continued. "Dru and I used to fight all the time when her and Spike were with us. Even as a ten year old, I knew she was a serious piece of work. Anyways, she has this thing for dolls. I mean, a creepy, insane thing for dolls. She used to cut out their eyes and stuff."

"Ewww." Buffy scrunched her nose up. "That would have been traumatizing for any ten year old."

Cora laughed again. "Yeah, but I didn't care as long as they were _her_ dolls. But Angelus had gotten me this doll while we were in New York, one of those American Girl dolls, you know? Anyways, I loved the thing. And she knew it. But she went all psycho one day and started saying how it was her 'mummy' and belonged with the rest of the family in her bedroom. She popped out the eyes and set it in there with the rest of her collection."

Cora paused her story for a second as she concentrated on adjusting the air conditioning in Spike's old car. "He really needs a new one of these," she said as she fiddled with one of the dials.

"Okay," she said, leaning back. "So I found out about the doll and we got into this huge fight, which ended with Dru basically chasing me around the house trying to kill me. Angelus came home and found me hiding in his bedroom—Dru was always too scared of Angel to go into his room—her 'daddy's' room. Angelus went and started beating the crap out of her. Well that was great fun until Spike came home a little while later. Needless to say, he was completely pissed. He started fighting with Angelus, and then all three of them got going. It lasted for _six hours_. I mean, it was intense. Living with vampires, there were no stakes in the house, so nothing was fatal. But by the end of it all, I found all three of them passed out on the floor. Spike and Dru had ganged up on Angelus and so they were all pretty much evenly matched. It took Angelus a day to come to, and when he did, him and I left for a while. That's when he decided to leave the states."

Buffy laughed easily at the story. She would definitely have enjoyed watching the three vampires fighting like that. Six hours. Buffy shuddered. Sometimes she forgot the true strength and immortalness of vampires. She turned to Cora.

"Not to insult you, but wasn't that hard on your…well…I guess on your conscience? Living with Angelus. I mean, he seriously gets off on torturing people." Buffy shuddered as she remembered her own experiences with him.

Cora wasn't insulted at all. "I know where you're coming from, but Buffy, I grew up with it. I mean, I knew vampires were evil, but when I was little and Angelus would come around, he didn't do any of that stuff. I grew up looking at him as this uncle who loved getting me into all kinds of trouble and who drove my parents insane. So when I started living with him, it was the same kinds of things. He didn't do that stuff around me. I stayed at home when he got hungry."

Cora sighed and her eyes narrowed on the road. "Until one day," she began. "I think I was eleven. We were in Rome and Spike was back with us again. He was supposed to be watching me that week, but he had gotten into a huge fight with Dru, who so needs to be locked up and staked, and then he got himself completely wasted.

"I left the house—he was so far gone he wouldn't have noticed if I had set it on fire—and went to where I knew Angelus was. I was just bored, and I figured I'd walk to see him and then go back to Spike's. Well I walked in on him and a girl…she was my age. He had her…" Cora's eyebrows furrowed and her face grew stern. "Well, it wasn't something I would want any eleven year old to see."

Cora looked lost in thought for a few minutes, barely able to form words for the way she had felt about that situation.

"I mean, the girl was _my age_ at the time, and he had her tied to the wall. She wasn't even screaming, just crying silently. Her shoulders were completely hunched and you could just…" Cora inhaled sharply again at the memory. "…you could just see that he had completely broken her. That was when I realized he was completely evil."

"What did you do?" Buffy asked.

"Well," Cora laughed, returning her face to her more usual, lighthearted features. "First I thought the best thing to do was to kill him. There was a pencil lying on a table nearby. I grabbed it and flung myself at him. I think I scared him nearly to death. He never would have expected that from me, but I had never expected something like that from him."

Cora looked seriously at Buffy. "I always knew he was a vampire, but he had just never seemed so evil to me. I know it doesn't make any sense…" Cora shook her head.

"Anyways," she continued. "I actually knocked him over and was trying to stab him with the pencil. I guess I hadn't really put it in my head to stab him in the _heart_, but I got him a couple of the times in the chest. Finally, he grabbed me and carried me out of the room. I was screaming at him, hitting him, doing anything I could. He just carried me back to Spike's. He threw me down in my room and I just stared at him. He was even still in his vampire face."

"That would have been…terrifying," Buffy offered.

"Yeah, he just stood there for a long time. Finally, he told me to go to sleep and he left. I wouldn't talk to him for weeks afterwards, but I mean, I didn't have anywhere to go. Him, Spike, and Dru were the only people I knew. Never would I have _ever_ gone anywhere with Dru—crazy bitch that she is—and Spike was a little crazy after that fight with her, so I was stuck with Angelus."

"So I guess it wasn't all fun and reckless games living with them?" Buffy said.

"Hardly," Cora replied. "Although, don't get me wrong, reckless was the way I lived most of the time. I had fun, and, you may not believe this, but Angelus taught me a lot. Like how to fight. Although you may not like to admit it to yourself, Angel has some serious power. He's strong, and living with him, learning to fight like him, it made me stronger. We've been in true fights before. Fights where we both—at the time—thought that we were going to the death, and I've almost beaten him for real. Did you know that?"

Buffy turned to look at Cora in surprise.

"Yeah," Cora smiled. "After he first taught me to fight, we sparred all the time. Eventually I learned how he fought, and I actually have become a pretty equal opponent for him."

"You'll have to teach me," Buffy said. "I can't seem to do it."

"Yeah well, you'll have to be careful. He wants you dead _all_ of the time."

"True," Buffy agreed.

There was another subject Buffy had wanted to approach with Cora during their trip out together. She just wasn't sure as to how to bring it up with the girl.

"So then…Angelus," Buffy attempted, "You wouldn't like it if…if I did find a way to beat him?"

Cora let out a heavy sigh as she thought about Buffy's question. "I thought that would come up, and I've been trying to think of how to answer that." Cora thought again for a few moments as she concentrated on exiting the highway towards Santa Maria.

"I can't tell you that I would be okay with it if something happened and you killed him. In a way that I know is completely sick and twisted…he's like a father to me, and a brother, and a friend, and well, other things. I can't explain it but he's always been there, and that's important to me since my parents."

Cora turned to Buffy seriously. "No, I can't tell you it's okay. I understand why you would need to do it, Buffy. You're the Slayer—you can't deny that. But at the same time, I couldn't understand it if you did it if you didn't have to. If he stays out of your way, I would expect you to stay out of his…does that make sense?"

"I guess," Buffy relented. "Are we here?" she asked as they pulled to a stop in front of a large white apartment complex.

"Yes ma'am," Cora said as she pulled into a nearby parking spot and shut off the ignition. "Let's go gather some stuff."

Cora and Buffy entered the apartment complex through a side door. They walked towards a set of stairs and climbed them to the second level.

They walked down a long hallway of doors and then stopped at the one on the end. Cora took out a gold key from her jeans' pocket and then unlocked the door.

The apartment was a one bedroom flat, complete with a small kitchen and an even tinier bathroom, and one side room that was nearly empty except for a large couch and television set.

"Nice place," Buffy said.

"It's a dump," Cora said honestly. She took a step into the living room and then stopped. "Wait."

Buffy had stopped dead in her tracks when Cora had said it. She glanced around the room, looking for what had made Cora hesitate.

"Someone's been here," Cora said simply. She took a few more steps into the room and then stopped again. "Someone _is_ here."

"How do you know?" Buffy whispered.

The apartment seemed empty to her. The rooms were all dark, except for the light that now shone in through the open apartment door, and all of the blinds were drawn tightly closed. Even the small window that was above the kitchen sink had a large phonebook sitting in it, blocking the sunlight from entering. Suddenly Buffy understood.

"Vampire?" Buffy guessed.

"I would say so," Cora agreed. She turned to Buffy. "Came prepared?"

Buffy shook her head, realizing that she had been slacking on her Slayer responsibilities. She didn't even have a pencil with her.

Cora took a step back and reached up to the top of the doorframe. She pulled down a small, sharpened wooden stake. Buffy nodded appreciatively as the girl handed it to the Slayer.

"You're prepared," she said, taking the stake from her.

"Live with vampires long enough and you realize that they live long enough to gain a lot of enemies. I never go too far from stakes," she said. She reached underneath her coffee table and grabbed another, much larger stake. She gave Buffy a wicked smile.

"I'm still not quite up to form, so I'll probably leave the slaying to you. Just try not to get dust in the bed."

The two girls crept silently up to the door of Cora's bedroom. They pushed it open and then counted to three. When they reached three, they flipped on the bedroom lights.

There was a large form lying in Cora's bed. It didn't even stir when the lights were turned on.

Cora rolled her eyes at Buffy.

"Should we jump and stake?" Buffy asked. Considering it was Cora's house, she figured it should be Cora calling the shots.

"Nah; we can jump, but lets be careful on the staking. I wouldn't want to kill some poor bum whose been living in my apartment for the last couple weeks." Cora crept over closer to the bed.

As she got closer to the sleeping man, realization lit up in her eyes. Buffy was about to ask her what it was when Cora suddenly threw her stake at the man's head.


	10. Chapter 10

"You ass!" she yelled, as the man woke up suddenly, a hand immediately reaching forward to rub where the stake had hit him.

"What the—"

Buffy realized who it was, and she tried to close her eyes as she realized the sleeping vampire didn't have any clothes on.

"You are the laziest freaking vampire I have ever met. Who the hell do you think you are sleeping in my apartment after just leaving Sunnydale like that?"

Angelus rubbed his head, which was throbbing from where Cora's stake had hit him.

"Will you be careful with those things?" he asked. "They're kinda dangerous you know."

"Yeah, I know," Cora said as she grabbed Buffy's steak out of her hand and threw it at Angelus as hard as she could. This time, the pointy end struck him in the shoulder, drawing blood.

"You're a bitch, you know that Cor?"

"Yeah, and you're an ass." Cora grabbed the sheets that were covering him and ripped them off.

"Hey—" Angelus began. He tried to cover his naked body up, and then he stopped. "Oh, you wanna play?" he grinned evilly.

"No, I want you to get your lazy ass up out of bed, put your clothes on, and get out of my apartment." With those final words, Cora went over to the window that was on the opposite side of her bedroom. She pulled open the blinds quickly, letting sunlight shine in directly on the bed. Angelus' body started to smoke and he jumped up quickly and, in one step, crossed the length of the room to seek shelter in the shadows.

"I'm going to kill you," he stated.

"Once again—I'd like to see you _try_," Cora said as she started to back out of the room.

"Oh, don't worry baby, I'm going to try really hard this time!"

"Come on, Buffy." Cora grabbed the handle on the door as she started to leave. "Hurry up, Angel. I need stuff out of here."

"Wait!" Angelus yelled as the girls turned to leave the bedroom. "I'm sure Buffy would like to play..."

Leaving the room, Cora shook her head at Angelus. The girls went to wait in the living room for the vampire to finish getting dressed. A few minutes later, Angelus walked out, with pants on but no shirt.

"I meant all of your clothes, _Angel_," Cora said.

"Sorry, _Cora_, but you kind of stabbed me. Got a towel or something?" Cora noticed for the first time that he was bleeding from where she had hit him.

"Don't use a—" she began, but Angelus had already grabbed a towel from the kitchen and was using it to wipe the blood off. "—towel," Cora finished.

"I'm going to go grab some stuff. I'll be right back," she told Buffy. As she walked by Angelus she ordered him under her breath, "Don't do anything I'll be mad at you for."

Cora went into her room and grabbed her big brown leather duffel bag out of the closet. She went to her dresser and started filling the bag with an assortment of clothes and shoes and other things. Finally, after giving the room a final glance, she left it and closed the door behind her.

As she passed through the living room to head for the bathroom, her duffel bag heavy on her shoulder, she looked at Buffy and Angelus. Angelus was still in the kitchen, leaning against the refrigerator. Buffy was standing in the opposite corner of the apartment, glaring at him. Cora laughed under her breath.

After grabbing a few things that she wanted out of her bathroom, she walked back into the living room, her bag nearly throwing her off balance. While she had been in the bathroom, Angelus must have gone back into the bedroom and put on his shirt, because he was finally fully clothed.

He walked over to Cora. "Here, let me take that for you, babe." He attempted to take the heavy bag away from her, but she let it drop to the floor instead.

"No," she said. "This doesn't work like that Angel. You don't get to walk out of Sunnydale and come live in _my_ apartment. That's just a bit selfish don't you think?" She put her hands on her hips.

"Hello!" Angelus waved his hands at her and then pointed to himself. "Vampire, remember?"

"Yeah, that excuse worked when I was ten, Angel, not now. You're two hundred and fifty years old—vampire or not, you know what stupid is."

"Two forty-seven," Angelus interrupted.

Cora grabbed her head with her hands, pulling at her own hair. Angelus was giving her a headache. The vampire could feel, rather than see her frustration. He had practically raised the girl, and his vampire senses were extra attuned to her.

Angelus stepped behind Cora and put his hands over her wrists, gently yet firmly. He pulled them down from her head and set them at her sides. Then, after taking a handful of her hair and lying it over one of her shoulders, he started to give her a back massage.

Cora's eyes met Buffy's as Angelus started to work his hands up her shoulders. Cora rolled her eyes. It was so Angel to do something like that when she was so incredibly mad at him. After relaxing into his touch for just a moment, Cora brought her arm out to gain leverage and then elbowed him hard in the chest.

"Christ, Cora!" Angelus yelled as he doubled over. Cora spun around to face him.

She was about to remind him once again about how he had left Sunnydale even when he knew that she would need his help with whatever it was that would be coming. But before she had the chance to say anything, Angelus brought his fist back and hit Cora across the face.

Had she been in shape, not recovering from injuries, Cora could have taken the hit easily, probably returning it with one of her own almost immediately. But because of her condition, Angelus' strength literally knocked her backwards. Her back hit the corner of the coffee table as she fell. Buffy was already between her and Angelus, ready to strike.

Angelus' face was stern; his eyes narrowed at Buffy, but the Slayer saw a flash of something else in them too. Something almost similar to compassion. He hadn't expected to hit Cora that hard, Buffy realized. Something about that knowledge kept her from attacking him immediately, but she still stood ready in a fight stance.

"Buffy," Cora said as she gingerly used the coffee table to help lift herself back up. Buffy turned, expecting the girl to need her help, but she was already getting up on her own. "Don't," Cora said simply, referring to her taking action against Angelus.

Angelus just stared at Cora as she reached a standing position again, her one hand clutching where her back had hit the coffee table. A bruise was already forming on the side of her face.

She took a step towards him, but a gasp of pain shot through her before she could take her next step. She waited for the pain to subside, and then she went to stand in front of him.

It was the first time Buffy had realized how much taller Angelus was than her. Her eyes were just level with his chest.

"I need to talk to you." Cora's face was hard, her breathing heavy. "Now," she commanded.

Angelus' face was torn. He should rip the young girl's throat out. She was eighteen. He was a vampire with centuries' worth of experience and wisdom. No one, _ever_, vampire or human, demon or Slayer, ordered him around. And yet for some reason, the strange bond he had with this girl made him want to listen to her, want to do what she asked him.

He merely nodded, and she headed into the bedroom. Buffy watched the vampire follow her, his head hanging considerably lower than his normally cocky stance.

When they got into Cora's room again, she sat down on the bed, one hand still supporting her back, the other hand gently rubbing where Angelus' fist had hit her.

"I need you with me," she said. "You know what the thing with Buffy means." Cora's face turned grave, and she lifted one hand to Angelus' face to get his attention. "Something's coming," she continued, lifting his head up and locking her eyes with his, "Something big and something bad. I just need to know if you're with me or not. You know the curse won't bind you here—that's your decision. If you choose no, then I want you to leave, to be out of the way of the Slayer and out of my way. If you choose yes, then I need you here for me. I can't be worrying that you're going to leave the first time you have to take sides with Buffy."

"You can't ask me to do that," Angelus said, his face determined. "I _can't_ …_work_…_with_…_her_," he said through clenched teeth.

"I'm not asking you to, Angelus. It's your choice. It has to be—you've never forced me to do a single thing my whole life, and you know I could never force you to either."

Angelus' eyes looked off across the room, seeing something that Cora couldn't. After a few moments, he spoke.

"Cora, I know what their doing. Grieshlin vamps. I found out last night, after I got here. There's a small sect of them in a place right outside Santa Maria. It is big, Cora. Way bigger than me or you…bigger than the Slayer has ever dealt with."

He paused to let his words sink in.

"Tur'el," Angelus said, and Cora's eyes grew wide. "They're resurrecting him, bringing him back. I don't know how…I never even knew it was possible, never had a reason to want him back myself, but that's what the Grieshlin are working towards."

"Tur'el," Cora repeated, her eyes blinking slowly as realization hit her. Her eyes met Angelus'. "Can it be done?"

"Can he be brought back?" Angelus asked, clarifying her question. "Yeah, Cora, he can. I don't know how soon, it's a pretty big deal, but it's gonna happen."

"Can _we_ do it?" Cora asked.

"Take them down? Beat him? Stop the Grieshlin? Yeah, maybe. It'll be near freakin' impossible, but I don't think it's completely impossible."

"I want you with me," Cora said plainly. It wasn't a question, and she wasn't begging him. It was just what she knew.

"I know, kid," Angelus said, looking down again. "And this goes against everything in the world I've ever known, but I'm gonna be there. Only for you," he added, "and to keep Tur'el down. The whole world will go straight to Hell if he's risen…literally."

He reached out and, with his hand, lifted her chin up to see where the bruise had developed along her jawbone. He caressed the spot gently with his thumb.

"I'm sorry, baby," he said. Cora took his hand away from her face. Angelus dropped it and left it casually lying on her thigh.

"If I was better, it'd be fine," Cora said. She knew he felt bad. "You used to hit me all the time, Angelus."

"Yeah, when you'd fight back…it was fun. This…" he let his sentence falter as he looked at her face again.

"You're Angelus," Cora reminded him. "Demon with the angelic face," she whispered to herself. "I know who you are, and it's okay."

She took his hand, and for once he did not pull it away. She gave it a quick squeeze and then attempted to get up from her seat on the bed. Angelus saw her difficulty at rising and he quickly put a hand on her back to support her. He followed her out of the room again, one hand still pressed against her back.

Buffy had been waiting for them in the living room. As the couple returned, Buffy stood up from her seat on the couch. They looked like they had figured out their issues, she noticed. Angelus looked incredibly sincere as he led her out of her bedroom.

"He's coming back with us," Cora stated, hoping Buffy wouldn't be too upset at having to ride back with him. "If you're alright with that," she added quickly.

Buffy knew she had little choice in the matter. Even if she said no, Angelus would still return to Sunnydale, and Buffy would possibly lose an ally in Cora.

"Of course," Buffy agreed, nodding.

"We'll wait until sunset," Cora insisted, glancing at the windows. The light that shone in through the closed blinds told her that it wasn't long before sundown. "We just have an hour or so."

"Right," Buffy said, as she plopped back down into the couch. "So we wait."

Cora turned to Angelus. "Your car?" she questioned him.

"Yeah, funny story…" Angelus busied himself with looking at his hands. "I kinda left it parked outside that Grieshlin place, and when they uh, kinda noticed me, I didn't have time to get it."

Cora cocked a half smile at him. "Yeah, so you're stuck with me driving," she said.

Angelus snorted. "Yeah, if I want to _die_."

"You are dead," Buffy said, looking up at him.

"Slayer…" he began, but he rethought his words as he remembered that none of his threats could be carried out as long at they were both meant to help protect Cora.

"Just an hour or so…" Cora reminded herself as she sat down next to Buffy on the couch. And then a two hour drive back to Sunnydale, she added mentally, worrying already about the drive from Santa Maria to the Hellmouth.


	11. Chapter 11

After the sun went down, the trio left Cora's apartment, carefully locking the place up. Angelus carried Cora's bag for her, still feeling bad about hitting her earlier. When they got to Spike's car, Angelus put the bag in the trunk and then met Cora at the driver's side door.

"No way," he said, after taking the keys out of her hand.

"Angelus, Buffy will kill me if I put her life in your hands. Besides, you're _not_ the best driver," Cora explained to him.

Angelus cleared his throat loudly. "I'm sure even the Slayer can figure this one out. I've got a century's worth of experience driving these things, you've got…what? Two?"

"Actually, I've been driving since I was fourteen? Or don't you remember?" Cora raised her eyebrows at him.

"Again," Angelus said, holding the keys above her head as she reached for them, "not my fault." Then he turned to address the Slayer. "Buff, don't you think, using all of your incredible Slayer intelligence, that in Cora's weakened condition, I should be the one to drive?"

"Whatever," Buffy said, still standing by the passenger side door. She rolled her eyes.

"She agrees," Angelus said, pushing Cora to the side and opening the driver's side door for himself. Cora rolled her eyes at him and then circled the car to get in the passenger's side. Buffy had already buckled herself into the backseat.

"Here, we go," Angelus said as he put the car into gear and turned on the radio. A local hard rock station was already programmed in. Angelus cringed as he listened to the song. "God, Spike listens to some serious shit," he complained.

After fiddling with the old car's radio dials for a few minutes, Angelus found what he was looking for. Leaning back, he turned the volume up and let the car fill with music from a classical station.

Cora turned in her seat to look at Buffy.

"Classical?" Buffy asked in disbelief.

Cora laughed at her surprise. "Yeah, he's basically the biggest loser I've ever known."

"Ladies, please," Angelus interrupted. "This music was the music of my childhood," he said, as his hands swished back and forth across the air in tune with the music.

"This music was made in the last decade, Angel," Cora corrected him.

"Whatever," he dismissed. "It's educational."

With that, Cora leaned back and closed her eyes. "Might as well get some sleep, as long as he's driving," she called to Buffy.

Buffy wasn't completely sure about relaxing in the backseat as history's evilest vampire took her for a drive, so she settled for watching the couple sitting in the seats in front of her. Cora had relaxed back against her seat, her eyes closed, her arms wrapped around herself in an effort to protect herself from the chilly night air that seeped through the old car's doors and windows.

Angelus had noticed Cora's discomfort as well. Buffy watched as he tried to adjust Spike's heater, and then cursed it when the dial actually came off in his hands. A minute later, Angelus had taken his leather jacket off and had laid it across Cora. Then he rested one hand behind her neck.

Buffy felt content watching how easy it was for Cora to sleep with Angelus driving. A few moments later, Buffy found her own eyes getting heavy, and soon she was drifting off to the vampire's classical music.

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During the next two weeks, Cora began to slowly return to normal. Her wounds had begun to heal, and ,thanks to good food—well, more like a lot of Spike's fast food—Cora had regained a lot of the weight she had lost during her captivity. Although she was lacking in the muscle tone that she usually had so much of, she was feeling more like she had before everything had happened.

Angelus had made good on his promise to stay with Cora. After driving them home from Santa Maria, he had gotten himself comfortable at Spike's, much to Spike's regret. Cora was reminded of her years growing up with the two vampires as they fought over things like the remote or movies. It reminded her even more of her past when they started physically fighting one night because Angelus changed the channel on Spike during his show.

Buffy had made it a habit to visit Cora whenever she had any free time, while Angelus had made his own habit of making sure he was out when Buffy arrived. It didn't matter to Cora though, she was just happy to be feeling well again and to be getting back to her old self.

"Thinkin' baby?" Angelus asked from his spot leaning against Spike's doorway.

It was a beautiful sunny day in Sunnydale, and Cora was taking full advantage of it. She had gotten pale during her time with the Grieshlin, and she intended to get her olive color back immediately. It was enough to live with vampires; she didn't need to look like one.

Angelus' place against the door, under the roof of the crypt, kept him protected from the sun. Cora's place, lying out in the grass in front of Spike's, put her directly under it. Angelus watched her bask.

"Nope," Cora answered finally. "Just enjoying the sun." She smiled back at him.

"Sorry I can't be out there with you. Bad for my complexion," he said.

"Yeah, complexion my ass." Cora laughed and raised herself gently from the cemetery ground. She turned and walked toward him. She pushed him out of her way.

"You're feeling stronger," he commented as she pushed past him.

"I know, it's _great_," she said, heading to Spike's small fridge. She pulled herself out the bottle of apple juice she had bought and drank it straight from the jug.

"I think," she continued between gulps, "I want to start training."

"With me?" he laughed as she drank. "Baby, I don't think you're quite up to that yet."

"Well, maybe not," she consented as she put the juice back and closed the fridge, "but what better way to work up to it than to start?" She gave him her most convincing smile.

"Alright, but no yelling if you get your ass kicked."

"You could take it just a little easy on me," she suggested, taking her shoes off and sitting down on the couch. Besides her and Angelus, the crypt was empty. Spike had left through the sewers earlier that day after discovering that Angelus had drank the rest of his bagged blood out of the refrigerator.

"And you didn't need to drink that blood. You know Spike can't take anything fresh anyways," she added, a note of disapproval in her tone.

"Oh but that was fun," Angelus smirked. "Tasted like shit but, hey, I had a craving."

"So will you?" Cora asked again, getting back to their previous subject.

"Tonight," Angelus answered as he sat down next to her on the couch and turned on the television. Beside him, Cora smiled in satisfaction.

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Buffy had been doing the school and Slayer thing since returning from her trip to Santa Maria with Cora and Angelus. She had been spending time with Cora and, even better, a lot of time with Riley, which was something Buffy didn't usually have a lot of time for, unfortunately. But she had noticed that with Angelus back in town, vampires in general seemed to be keeping a lower profile than usual, or maybe it was Cora who was making Angelus keep a low profile, Buffy wondered. Either way, Buffy's job seemed easier.

Buffy was just on her way out to surprise Riley after his class when her cell phone rang.

"Hey," she answered casually.

"Buffy, hi Buffy, it's Giles," the voice on the other end responded.

"Hey Giles, what's up?"

"Buffy, I'd like it if you could come over her for a bit today," Giles said.

"Okay, Giles, what's the sitch?"

"The…the what?" Gile's confused voice echoed on the other end.

"The sitch—the situation, Giles. What's going on?"

"Well, I don't mean to alarm you, but I do believe that I may have discovered some rather interesting information about Cora."

"Okay, well I'll be right there." Buffy hung up her cell phone and grabbed her bag. She supposed Riley would just have to wait.

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Twenty minutes later, Buffy was knocking on Gile's door. He answered it quickly and ushered her inside.

"Now," he started, "I don't mean to alarm you, and I'm sure you were quite busy on such a beautiful day like toady, but I daresay I've found something that may be a bit interesting." He was already pulling out a slim old book.

"Right," Buffy said, sitting down on his couch, "getting right to business then. What is it Giles?"

Giles brought the book over to her and laid it out in front of them on the coffee table.

"I've been researching deeper into the diaries of old Watchers and I've found something curious about Annabelle's watcher."

"Anna who?" Buffy asked, still lost in what Giles was trying to tell her.

"Annabelle, the young slayer who stood with Cora's family more than a century or so ago against Angelus," Giles reminded her.

"Oh, right, so what about her?"

Giles sat down beside Buffy and started paging through the old book in front of him.

"Well, it's not only about her, per say," he began. "It's more something I discovered from reading her Watcher's diaries, something about Cora's ancestors. Something about Cora."

Buffy's face turned serious. "Something bad?" she asked him.

"Well, no not exactly." Giles took off his glasses and faced Buffy. "Actually, it may be a very good thing." He thought about it for a moment before adding, "It may be especially good for you, Buffy."

"Giles, what is it?" Buffy's curiosity was piqued. Would she ever know everything there was to know about the new girl in town?

"It's something called the 'Second Generation'," he began. "It seems that a few years before Angelus tried to kill Cora's family, the Powers that Be—"

"The what?"

"Powers that Be – mystical, powerful beings who, well, make everything what it is," Giles clarified.

"Right, continue."

"So, the Powers that Be gave the powers of a Slayer to another. A young woman in Cora's family. There was a large threat that was rising, a vampire named Tur'el. He was the first vampire, the first one there ever was. It seems that, just before he was about to be risen, the Powers that Be gave the young girl Slayer's abilities, in order to help the true Slayer fight him."

Buffy's head was spinning again. _Another_ slayer?

"Tur'el was an incredibly powerful vampire, impossible to defeat, but the two Slayers, using their combined powers, managed to trap him before he returned to full power." Giles skimmed through the diary quickly again, "They trapped him in something that they only refer to as 'the container.' This container, it seems, could hold him, trap him, and as long as it remains hidden, he cannot be resurrected."

"So Cora's a Slayer?" Buffy asked, her eyes wide.

"Well, not a true Slayer. It would seem that, although your Slayer abilities would completely transfer to the next chosen Slayer after your death, her Slayer abilities have simply traveled down through the line, through the generations of her family. Therefore, she may not be quite as strong as you; I'm not quite sure actually as to how that works."

Buffy nodded her head slowly, still taking it in. "So it's a good thing…kinda…right? She can help with the whole Slayer thing?"

"Yes, I mean, it would seem so." Giles nodded.

"But, we're not going to have another Faith on our hands?" Buffy's interest turned to worry as she considered the rogue Slayer Faith who was still in England being dealt with by the Watcher's Council.

"Well, I suppose that that would be Cora's call, but from what you've said, she sounds stable. If you can call living with Angelus stable," he added quickly.

"Does the Council know? About Cora I mean?"

"No, I don't believe they do. I can't imagine it's something they would have thought to keep from me had they known," Giles answered, closing the diary and replacing it on his bookshelf. "Unfortunately, there have not been too many previous Watcher who thought it prudent to study the lives of Slayers past."

"Hm," Buffy shrugged. "So we're still all good right? New information, but…okay information?"

"Yes, I believe so," Giles said, entering the kitchen and pulling something out of the refrigerator.

"Well," Buffy said, standing up. "Three Slayers. Whatd'ya know?"

"Care to stay for dinner?" Giles called from the kitchen. Buffy could already hear him preparing some meal.

"Sure." Buffy shrugged. She hadn't done the visit thing with Giles in a while, not since Cora had come to town. Might as well make the most of her Watcher-Slayer bonding time. She could go see Cora tonight. Hopefully the girl could fill her in on the Second Generation thing.


	12. Chapter 12

Hours later, Buffy headed across town towards the cemetery, both her stomach and head full. Dinner with Giles had been both delicious…and enlightening. The Slayer and Watcher had caught spent the time catching up on various things and discussing Cora's being a slayer.

As she neared Spike's crypt, Buffy heard fighting. She quickly grabbed her stake and ran ahead, ready to stake whatever vamps or demons were having it out in the cemetery.

The Slayer stopped dead in her tracks when she saw whom it was doing the fighting.

Cora and Angelus were locked in a battle. Buffy fought the urge to jump in and slay Angelus—those were her Slayer senses telling her to do that—and besides, she knew that Angelus couldn't hurt Cora. But how was Cora keeping up with him after her injuries?

Buffy watched curiously, barely noticing that she was edging closer and closer to where they were fighting.

They seemed evenly matched, Buffy noticed, surprised. Cora kept up with him punch for punch. Although, Buffy soon realized, Angelus didn't seem to be going at full speed. She knew that if she had been the one he was fighting, he would be putting a lot more force behind each of those hits.

"You're losing, baby," Angelus taunted Cora as he blocked a punch from her.

"I'm keeping up my end," Cora grunted, as she tried desperately to block his punches. She tried a roundhouse kick at his head, but he caught her leg and spun her back. She landed hard on the ground, her injured leg pinned underneath her.

Angelus waited a second for Cora to get up and continue fighting, but the girl didn't get up from where she had fallen. He went to her suddenly.

"You alright?" he asked, holding out a hand.

"Yeah, no big deal," Cora said, dusting herself off as Angelus pulled her up. "Just tired. I did a lot better than you thought," she said, a cocky grin spreading across her face. As she turned to face Angelus, she noticed Buffy for the first time.

"Hey, Buffy," Cora greeted her.

"Hey," Buffy replied, still dazed from watching the two locked in combat.

"Slayer," Angelus said as he too turned to face her. He put an arm around Cora's slim shoulders. "You see you've got some competition over here right? She nearly had me down and she's been injured. You must just _suck_." Angelus gave Buffy an evil smile.

"Please ignore him," Cora said. "It makes you feel better."

Buffy let out a little laugh. "Actually, I was kind of coming to talk to you about that," Buffy said, approaching the subject cautiously.

"About?" Cora prompted, using Angelus to balance herself as she massaged her injured leg.

"The Second Generation?" Buffy prompted.

"Oh," Cora's face fell. "Right, how do you know about that?"

"Giles did the research thing. Kinda filled me in."

"Well, there's not much to it." Cora pointed to herself, "Partial Slayer," she said. Then she pointed to Buffy, "Full Slayer."

"That simple?" Buffy asked. "Nothing I need to know about?"

"Not really," Cora laughed. "It just makes it easier for me to kick his ass—you know?" Cora pushed Angelus away playfully as she regained her balance.

Buffy still looked unconvinced. Cora took a step toward the girl in an effort to explain things to her.

"Buffy, it's…I'm still the same. It was one of the reasons Angelus couldn't defeat my family, one of the reasons for the pact that we have. It's just something I was born with."

Angelus mumbled something under his breath at Cora's mention of the pact.

"Excuse me?" Cora asked him. "You said something?"

"Nothing," Angelus dismissed it, yet continued to mutter under his breath as Cora turned back to Buffy.

"_What_ Angelus?" Cora spun to face him.

"I'm just saying," he began, an annoyed look on his angelic face, "I could easily have killed your family."

Cora smiled and put a hand up to his face in a babying gesture. "Of course you could have sweetie, you just wanted to have the chance to meet me instead." Turning away from him, and ignoring the grunts of protest her gave her, Cora addressed Buffy again. "Are you okay with this Buffy?"

"Yeah," Buffy said, looking seriously at Cora. "Just...we're still learning about each other right?"

"Yeah," Cora agreed. "Don't worry Buffy, everything will come in time."

Cora leaned against Angelus again, still trying to rub the throbbing pain out of her injured leg. "Now," she turned back to Buffy, "mind if we turn in? I'm kind of exhausted."

Buffy smiled. "Hey, no problem," she replied. "Oh, I just remembered. Xander, Willow, and I are all going to my house tomorrow around nine or so for a movie night. I was thinking you could come and…you know, get acquainted with the gang."

"Sure." Cora smiled at the girl warmly. "Definitely."

Buffy returned Cora's enthusiasm with a smile. Angelus' face had a disgusted look to it, which both girls ignored.

"So I'll see you then," Buffy said. With that, the Slayer turned around and headed towards the street. She had other cemeteries to patrol before she could go home.

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"I can't believe you're going to go have a _sleepover_ with the freaking Slayer and those damn friends of hers." Angelus had been fuming about it since Buffy had invited Cora, and now that they were back in the crypt, he intended to let her know exactly how he felt.

Cora sat down gingerly on Spike's couch. She was already sore from her workout with Angel, but she knew that the stiffness would fade by the morning. Thanks to Spike's help with nursing her back to health, Cora's strength was finally beginning to return. She stretched purposefully and then laid back on the couch to listen to Angelus rant.

"You're acting like some pathetic little teenage human, Cora. It's disgusting. You've never been like this before…" Cora tuned him out after a few more insults. She knew that he would calm down. The situation was just too against his nature for him to sit by and let it all happen without putting in his own thoughts. Cora was actually surprised that he had been this good so far.

Finally, Cora realized that the room had become silent, and Angelus was looking down at her expectedly.

"Yes?" she asked, looking up at him. From her spot on the couch, Angelus towered over her.

"I said," he repeated, "that it's been a while."

"Has it?" Cora mused, still not concentrating on what he was saying.

Angelus went and sat on the other end of the couch, moving Cora's feet and resting them on his lap. His hands worked their way over her ankles and up her calves. She realized that she should start paying attention.

"What _exactly_ are you after, Angel?" Cora asked him, raising her eyebrows at him.

He slipped into his vampire guise. "You know what I want, baby." He smiled a large grin, his fangs menacing. "It's part of the deal, and you're obviously feeling better. You know I wouldn't push if I thought it would hurt you."

Cora inhaled deeply, considering what Angelus was asking. He hadn't drunk from her in months. Not since before the Grieshlin had taken her. She had been living on her own in Santa Maria for the few months before she was kidnapped and Angelus hadn't been in town then either.

Angelus swung his leg over Cora's body, straddling her, but still holding up his weight so as to not hurt the girl. His fangs hung over her neck tauntingly.

"Can I?" he asked.

Cora started to nod, but stopped. "I'm going to see Buffy tomorrow, Angelus. Please, don't make it noticeable." Cora hoped that he would comply with her request, although she knew him better than to have too much faith in him when he was getting ready to drink from her.

One of Angelus' hands reached out and gripped Cora's arm, pinning it above her head, immobilizing her. His other hand gripped her other shoulder as he leaned down over her neck.

Although Cora was used to the sensation, it was different this time. Angelus usually made it a priority to do it without hurting her. In fact, she usually never even felt a thing except for the pleasure that his biting could bring her. This time, she felt his fangs tearing into her flesh. She let out a small gasp of unexpected pain and then relaxed into the couch as he drank from her.

She could feel him pulling her blood, feel her body weaken as he pulled life from her, but after a few moments, her body began to course with the buzz of energy that Angelus was experiencing. Cora had always had a special connection with him when he drank from her. She felt what he was feeling. Her partial Slayer blood flowed through his body, and he relished in the power.

When he was finished, he released her arms gently. He shook his head lightly as his features reverted back to their human form. He pulled up her legs so that she was nestled like a ball in the corner of the couch. Cora found herself leaning against him, and he wrapped his arms around her as she felt her eyelids get heavy with exhaustion.

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She reached up instinctively and felt the bite marks on her neck. Cora knew that despite her pleading with him to make the marks unnoticeable, he had deliberately done the opposite of her request.

He could feel her anger at him and he noticed her exploring the new wounds on her neck.

"Sorry, Cor…Slayer's gotta know you're mine, though."

"I don't belong to you Angelus," Cora corrected him as she let her hand fall back down to the couch and her eyes closed.

"Sure you don't." Angelus watched the young girl close her eyes and drift off to sleep in his arms. Although she had been falling asleep with him for the last three or four years, he still had a difficult time understanding the trust and comfort she could feel in the arms of someone who was so cruel and dangerous.

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Some time early the next morning Spike came home. He had made himself at home at Willy's bar for the night, buying up the bartender's stock of blood. He stuck it in the mini refrigerator that he kept in his crypt, chuckling at how funny it looked sitting beside Cora's assortment of juices and fruits and yogurts. Moving quietly, he walked to the couch. Angelus and Cora slept peacefully; Cora nestled against the older vampire. Spike shook his head with wonder. Although he had known Cora for years, he still found her relationship with his grandsire strange, even unsettling at times. Spike climbed into bed and fell asleep just as the sun began to peek into the crypt's small windows.

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A little before nine the next night Cora left Spike's for Buffy's. Angelus had insisted on going with her, but Cora had been adamant that she could make the walk herself. Still, the overprotective vampire persisted. He wouldn't allow her to walk the few blocks to Buffy's, but Cora wouldn't allow Angelus, who would definitely be unwelcome if anyone were to see him, to walk her. The solution walked beside her: the bleached blonde vampire had actually seemed happy to solve the problem and to walk her to Buffy's house himself.

"Ya know, love…that's quite an affect you've got on Angelus. Never seen somethin' like it." Spike shook his head.

"And I haven't had an affect on you?" Cora asked, giving him a cocky grin as she adjusted her black turtleneck. Unfortunately, even the high-necked shirt couldn't hide all of the damage Angelus had done the night before. She hoped no one would notice. "Even without that chip you never would have touched me. You wouldn't even let anyone else do it either—you stopped Dru hundreds of times."

"Might be true, pet, but then again Angelus is a different story. Much more evil, ya' know?" They crossed the street, Spike putting a protective guiding hand on Cora's back as they did.

"Yeah. I guess when he accepted the fact that he couldn't break the pact he decided to live with it not against it."

"Like I said—you've affected him. Never seen a vamp take care of a little kid like Angelus did for you. Everyone nearly thought he'd gone bonkers, ya' know? I remember he had to take out a few towns to keep up the reputation."

"Well, good to know I've had such _positive_ affect on him."

Spike laughed. "Didn't mean to make you feel bad, pet. Just sayin' he's done a lot for you is all."

"You've done a lot for me, too, Spike." Cora put a friendly arm around his waist. Spike returned her gesture by putting his arm around her. "I've missed you," she continued. "Before this, you took off with Dru. You just up and left us when we got back to America."

"I know, pet. Big mistake, by the way. She got a little nuttier after we left you."

Cora laughed at the comment about his ex. They were approaching Buffy's house.

"Takin' care of you now though, aren't I? And I won't let any other big bad get a piece of you, not this time." They had stopped on the sidewalk in front of the Summers' home. Cora could hear laughing inside. A few seconds later, a boy with dark shaggy hair opened the door.

"Spike," the boy greeted. "Still getting grabby with the Slayers I see." He looked down at the girl in Spike's arms. "And you must be Cora."

Spike took a step away from Cora. "Cora…Xander," he said in a short introduction. "Meet the man who is the first I'd kill if I had the chance." Spike squeezed one of Cora's arms affectionately before starting to turn away. "Get you here tomorrow pet?"

"If I have to have an escort, then yes, I'll see you then." She returned his affection by squeezing his hand and then turned to introduce herself to the young man formally.

She stopped in front of him at the door. "So, yeah, I'm Cora." She held out a hand for Xander to shake. "And you're Xander?"

"The Xan-man, at your service," Xander said, giving a mock bow. Then his face turned serious. He leaned in towards Cora as if sharing a secret "Hey, he wasn't serious right? About killing me first?"

Cora laughed. "No Xander, he wasn't serious."

Xander straightened up. "Of course he wasn't. Not like I was scared or anything. So, you don't have to be invited in or anything right?"

Cora laughed again. The boy was funny.

"No Xander, that applies for vampires only."

"Right. Well, then," Xander stepped aside, "you're invited anyways. The girls are in the living room."

Cora stepped inside the Summer's home and Xander closed the door behind her.


	13. Chapter 13

She adjusted the neck of her shirt again before rounding the corner into the living room where Buffy and Willow were already seated on the couch. There was a bowl of popcorn between the two girls and a classic old movie played on the television in front of them.

"Hey Cora," Willow greeted her as Cora entered the living room.

"Hey," Cora replied, giving the redhead a friendly smile.

"So you've met Xander?" Buffy asked, noticing him as he followed Cora into the living room.

"Yeah. Spike kind of introduced us," she said awkwardly.

"Spike, huh? Well, as long as it wasn't Angelus." Buffy laughed at Xander's discomfort. "I don't think Xander is his biggest fan."

Xander sat down on the chair beside the couch. "Yeah, can you imagine me not liking the guy who wants nothing more than to torture me and then end my torture by sucking my blood dry? The unfairness of my dislike for him is unbelievable," Xander said sarcastically.

Cora laughed. The kid really was funny.

"Well, you're all in luck. I convinced Angelus that he would have a much better time sulking at Spike's than walking me here. Although I'm not sure I needed someone to _walk_ me here in the first place." Cora rolled her eyes and sat down on the couch next to Willow.

Willow looked Cora over as she took her seat. Cora could feel the small redhead's eyes appraising her, and she saw her eyes grow wide as they fell upon her neck. Despite the turtleneck, Cora knew that the bruise could still be seen, and the puncture marks lay just below the edge of the neck were still red and raw, despite her Slayer healing abilities.

"Cora, are you okay?" Willow asked, concerned as she reached out to inspect Cora's neck.

"Yeah, of course." Cora self-consciously tugged at the neck to pull it up higher the second Willow noticed the wound. "I'm fine."

"But you—I mean, you're…bit." Willow stared at the black and blue marks that covered one side of the poor girl's neck.

"It's nothing, really."

"Were you attacked?" Buffy asked, sincerely concerned. Cora caught the Slayer's eyes and gave her a meaningful look. She had hoped that Buffy would have figured it out on her own and would have let it be. Apparently the Slayer didn't have much finesse. "Oh," Buffy said obviously as she realized what Cora's look meant.

"Oh what?" Xander asked from his place on the chair.

"You guys—I told you about the deal with Angelus that Cora has?" Buffy began. "Well, there are a lot of…things…in their agreement."

"Oh," Willow said, her mouth open wide. "Ohhh," she repeated as her eyes widened with realization of what Buffy was telling them.

"You mean he bit you?" Xander stared at Cora dumbly. "You let the evil maniac vampire bite you? On _purpose_?"

The room became silent for a moment. The only sounds came from the old movie still playing on television.

"There's a lot to it," Cora finally consented. "It's really better if you guys just…well, if you just stick to some of the less…disturbing details."

"Right," Xander said. "So why don't you fill us in on everything else? You _lived_ with the guy? For like, years? What about school?" Xander's curiosity for the dark brunette beauty who sat in front of him was obvious. Cora almost laughed as his questions, and her laughter echoed the relief she felt at not having to discuss the more _personal_ part of her and Angel's pact.

"Yeah, I've pretty much stayed with Angelus since I was nine. And no Xander, no school. Vampires don't like to stay in one place for too long and, well, that kind of life style isn't really conducive for a normal school schedule."

"Wow," Xander stared at Cora in amazement. "No school," he repeated to himself.

Cora laughed at his comment again before continuing. "It's not like I didn't learn anything. Seriously, you live with a two hundred year old vampire for seven or eight years and try _not_ learning anything. I mean really, Angelus is a genius."

"Great, a psychotic immortal genius who wants to kill us all. Just what we need," Xander mused.

"So you've been to a lot of places?" Willow interrupted, quickly changing the subject. "I mean you said you moved around a lot?"

"Oh yeah," Cora answered eager to talk about anything that didn't revolve around Angelus wanting to kill them all. "Italy, Spain, Greece, China, Australia, Morocco, we even stayed in Iceland for a few months. We traveled all over Europe"

"Wow." It was Willow's turn to be in awe. "All that traveling and…and all that knowledge from those different cultures? It must have been amazing."

"It was, in a way. It was also very normal. We both get bored easily—Angelus and I. So, when one of us decided it was time to head out we just picked a new spot and moved. Our moving did involve a lot of underground traveling though…sewers and ships and dirty trains…you know, Angelus has that thing with sunlight." Cora smiled.

"Right, the vampire thing," Xander reminded them.

"Well, I think it's very interesting," Willow said, clearly annoyed at Xander. "I mean, he doesn't want to kill you and so I guess that's all good right?"

"Yep, no killing," Cora said through a reassuring smile. "So," she started, wanting to switch the conversation away from her, "what movies do we have?"

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On the third movie of the night, Xander and Willow fell asleep. Cora was watching the movie with a kind of disinterest, and Buffy was fighting the urge to follow her best friends' examples and let herself fall asleep.

"So," Buffy said, stifling a huge yawn, "not very sleepy?"

Cora turned her attention from the movie to the Slayer, who looked like she was ready to pass out any second.

"My sleep cycle is never really normal. I sleep through some nights while other times I find myself wanting to drift off when the sun's up."

"Vampires've got your system all screwed up?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

Buffy looked at Cora inquisitively for a moment before her eyes started to drift close. But before she had the chance to fall asleep, a loud banging on the door brought her back to consciousness. Xander woke up from his own sleep with a startled, confused expression on his face while Willow barely stirred from her own dreams.

"Did we order a pizza?" Xander asked hopefully, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

Buffy looked at the clock. "At three thirty in the morning Xan? No."

From the front hallway, the banging came again.

"I guess I should…answer it?" Buffy asked getting up and heading for the door.

Cora followed her. "Maybe some backup?" she suggested. "Just in case it isn't the delivery guy…"

"Maybe I'll come too," Xander offered, rising from the chair. "You know, just in case it _is_ the delivery guy."

As Buffy approached the door, the visitor on the other side pounded again. This time, the door actually shook on its hinges. Buffy grabbed the knob and opened it slowly. Cora stood poised behind her, and Xander peeked out from around Cora.

When the door was opened wide enough for Cora, Buffy, and Xander to see who was on the other side, Cora had to cover her mouth to suppress a giggle.

On the other side of the threshold, a groggy Angelus leaned against the doorframe. A little further back from him, Spike was laid out across the Summers' porch holding a bottle of whiskey in each hand. He was whispering to the opening of one of them.

"Slayer," Angelus said, blinking his eyes and then squinting them to get a better view of her. "And, oh look, the little annoying man."

Xander had taken a step back when he had seen Angelus. Realization began to dawn in his eyes.

"You're freaking drunk," he said, pointing a finger accusingly at Angelus. "Buffy, he's drunk."

"Thanks Xander," Buffy said, still holding the door open.

"Wanta invite me in Slayer? Heard it's a party." From behind his back, Angelus brought out his own bottle of alcohol and took a swig of it. When he went to lean his hand back against the doorframe, he missed it slightly and lost his balance, which sent him crashing into one of the chairs that sat on the porch.

Cora couldn't hold it in any longer. At Angelus' fall, she started laughing.

"Buffy, I'm so sorry," she said in between giggles. She covered her mouth with her hand to try and get a hold of herself. "I didn't know they were going to…well, Spike said something about it being a 'boys' night,' but, I didn't—"

"Their drunk!" Xander repeated. "I mean, Spike yeah, but Angelus is drunk."

"Okay Xander, we understand," Buffy said impatiently.

Angelus had regained his composure out on the porch and he turned back to the people in the front hallway.

"No invite, baby?" His voice sounded sad, and Buffy recognized the small Irish accent that the usually coherent Angelus no longer had.

"I'll take care of them. I really am sorry Buffy, Xander." Cora had finally found herself able to stop laughing at the poor condition of the two vampires. She walked towards Angelus' place in the doorframe.

Xander grabbed her arm. "Cora, you don't know what he's going to do…do you? I mean, he's out of it."

Cora smiled at him, appreciative of his concern. "I've handled him like this a few times before, Xander. Trust me, it'll be fine." She released herself from his grasp and went to Angelus, who was taking another large drink of alcohol.

"Maybe you should let me have that." Cora reached for the bottle, but Angelus pulled it out of her grasp.

"Maybe I'll let you have _other_ things instead," Angelus said, smiling at her with a wicked drunken grin and holding the bottle out above her head.

"Yeah, okay, Angelus." Cora turned to Spike and then waited a moment. When she knew Angelus had brought the bottle back to his mouth, she spun around and grabbed it out of his hands. "Or not."

Cora tossed the bottle to Buffy in the doorway. "Wanna trash that for me? Angelus here has had enough."

"You little—" Angelus started, but Cora's hand covered his mouth before he finished his sentence.

"You'll regret it, Angel. Why don't we all go home?" She grabbed his arm, and as he started to lose his balance again, he threw his other arm over her shoulder.

"God you really weigh a lot," Cora complained as she turned to Spike. She gave him a hard kick in the butt. "Coming Spike?"

"No, pet. Think I'll just rest her awhile." He laid his head down in his hands.

"Won't be so peaceful in a couple of hours when the sun is up and shining down on you," Cora said mockingly.

Spike's head came up slowly. "Oh, righ' then." He got up slowly, trying not to drop the two bottles of alcohol he was carrying. "Wanna shot baby?" he offered to Cora, who was still waiting for him at the edge of the porch.

"No Spike I think you've had enough for everyone tonight." She walked Angelus down the steps and then left him there, returning to Buffy and Xander.

"I really _really_—"

"No," Buffy said with a smile. "Don't apologize. Just get them home." Buffy looked down at where Angelus was sitting on her porch steps. "I don't want to find out that some drunken vampire killed someone in the morning."

"Don't worry," Cora said. "I had fun. We'll try it again, after I kill these two."

"Are you sure you don't want some Cora? It'll be fun," Spike repeated, holding the bottle out to her. Cora shook her head again and attempted to lead Spike off the porch. "Come on, love. Remember tha' one time, in…Morocco? Yeah. An' you an' me…we got so bleedin' gone offa that cheap rum. 'Member, pet?"

"Spike, that was you and some cheap vampire named Dora. And from what I remember, you passed out in the middle of the wide open desert, and I was the one who had to go and get you before your ass got toasted by the nice bright sunlight."

"Oh," Spike looked taken aback. "Well, yeah, I guess it was a little more like that."

Rolling her eyes, Cora led him off the porch and then escorted the two drunken vampires back to Spike's crypt, where they both passed out—Angelus on the couch, Spike on a tomb—and slept till the next afternoon.

-----------------------

Spike woke up first. At first, his confusion about the throbbing pain in his forehead and the heaviness of his undead limbs occupied his mind. Then, slowly, he realized where he was and recalled the events of the previous evening.

After he had walked Cora to the Slayer's house, he had returned to his crypt to find Angelus stealing his blood again.

"What?" Angelus had asked upon seeing Spike's anger.

"What the bleedin' hell do you think you're doing?"

"Just…hungry is all, _William._"

Spike remembered his momentary confusion before he had realized why Angelus wasn't out killing for his own food.

"She's got you whipped, mate."

Angelus changed quickly into his vampire form and swung at Spike. "No one has me whipped." With that, he had carelessly thrown the bag of blood back into the refrigerator before turning to the younger vampire. "Let's go out."

The two vampires had hit up a few of the more in-town bars before venturing out to Willy's. They then proceeded to drink eight or nine bottles of alcohol before deciding that their "girl," Cora, needed to go home with them.

"What a bloody night," Spike muttered to himself, rising up from his tomb and rubbing his head with his hands. He glanced over at Angelus' sleeping form on the couch. The older vampire was clearly still recovering. Spike got to his feet slowly and went to find Cora. She wasn't anywhere in the upper part of the crypt, so he decided to check the lower part.

He crawled down the staircase cautiously, not completely trusting his legs yet. He found the young girl curled up in a ball on one of Spike's old recliners, reading one of his books—_Dante's Inferno_.

"Bit of light reading, pet?" He went and sat on the arm of her chair.

"Feeling better?" she asked him, setting her book aside.

"Feel like hell, love." He noticed the way she was curled up and then took off his long black signature leather coat and laid it across her. She looked up at him with a curious expression on her face. "You looked cold." He shrugged.

Cora smiled at him again. God she had missed Spike. Angelus was wonderful as far as evil vampires went, but the humanity that Spike had acquired—the emotions, the personality—allowed her to form a bond with him that was different than the one she shared with Angelus.

"You're feeling better though, right? All the…cuts and bumps and everything?" he asked, gesturing towards her.

"Yeah, I am. Leg's still a little sore, but that'll come with time. I'm alright—thanks to you."

"I just gave you a place to rest, pet. Angelus got you out of there."

"Yeah, but Angelus wouldn't have made the effort to take care of me like you have. Just wanted to let you know I was grateful."

Spike took a moment and let what she said soak in. She was so incredibly grown up. He had known her throughout her life. He had watched her change from an annoying ten year old to the beautiful woman she was now. He loved Cora—in a way that he wasn't too sure of yet. He watched her looking up at him. She looked so tiny in the black sweatpants and baggy sweatshirt she was wearing—his black sweatshirt—and covered in his leather jacket. Her long brown hair had fallen messily around her shoulders. Her skin had returned to its normal olive tone, something he had severely missed when she had first come to him after being kept by the Grieshlin. Her dark brown eyes looked into his own seriously. Even when she was younger, her eyes had startled him. She looked at people as if she knew all of their secrets, and as if they knew none of hers.

He bit back a smile as memories of her growing up flooded back to him. He remembered when they had met in New York, when he and Dru had decided to travel with Angelus and the young girl. Cora had been scared to death of Spike; she wouldn't be left alone in a room with him. Angelus had finally forced the blonde vampire to take Cora out for a night—pizza and a movie—to force Cora to get over her fear of him. It had taken Spike a few hours of serious thinking before agreeing to it. He knew the second he got the cute, young girl away from Angelus he would want to eat her. He had made up his mind, however, when he and Cora left the house after dark. The second they had moved out of Angelus' line of vision, she had jumped in front of Spike, nearly startling him. She was feet shorter than him, of course, but she pulled out a small, sharpened pencil and had threatened him. She had promised him that if he pulled a "lumpy face," she'd "slay" him. After that, he realized he didn't even want to kill her. She was too damn hilarious.

He brought his mind back to the present, where Cora had resumed her reading.

"Mind if I join you, pet?" He asked her, rising from his place on the chair and moving towards the makeshift bookcase that resided in the corner of the room.

"Sure. What're you reading?"

Spike held out a small leather bound book, similar to the one Cora had.

"_Dante's Paradiso_? Nice. The vampire reads the book about Heaven while I sit here and read about Hell." She smiled at him and shook her head in amazement. Spike never failed to surprise her.

"Mind if I sit, love?" Spike gestured to Cora's place on the old recliner, the only soft piece of furniture that resided in the lower level of Spike's crypt.

"Haha," Cora smirked. "I'm not getting up."

"Fine, then." In one smooth motion, Spike picked Cora up from the chair and took her place, settling her down on top of his lap.

Cora narrowed her eyes at the vampire underneath her and shot him a deadly glare.

"Fine," she huffed, making herself comfortable on Spike's lap and resuming her place in her book.

Spike smiled slightly and then opened up his own. He pretended to read for a few long moments before lying his book down on the chair's arm.

Cora regarded him slyly. She had known that she had left things with Spike a little up in the air when he had taken off with Drusilla, she just hadn't been sure that he had cared. The look in her eyes told her that he obviously still did.

She laid her own book down and turned on his lap, bending her knees backwards and letting her weight sit in the edges of the chair, straddling Spike. She put her arms around his neck and looked him deeply in the eyes.

"It's been a while, love," he said quietly, settling his arms around her waist.

"_You_ left," she reminded him sternly.

"_You_ had Angelus," he countered.

"Wrong. I _have_ Angelus."

"But in a different way, pet." He smiled at her, sucking his cheeks in and accentuating his high cheekbones.

He leaned forward and kissed her gently, softly. He wrapped his arms around her more tightly, drawing her closer into him, deepening the kiss.

After a minute or so he felt Cora pull back, just as she normally did. She twisted her body away from him and then curled up against him, resting against his hard chest. She tucked her chin in and rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes and enjoying the closeness she could share with Spike. It wasn't the commanding, forceful relationship she often shared with Angelus. She knew that she loved Angelus, a fact that she had kept hidden to herself all of her life. It was a forced kind of love, one that she knew that she needed. What she felt with Spike was different. Instead of needing him, she _wanted_ him, in a way that she had never felt with Angelus. She used to hate herself for it—the relationship with Angelus was enough, the forced pact that she and he shared required her relationship with him, but the relationship she had developed with Spike was a choice of her own.

Was she evil? She pondered the thought as she rested her head against his still, silent chest. No heart beat, no breath. She was a part of a line of Second Generation Slayers, and yet she had spent her life living with vampires, basically condoning the killing and drinking that they did on a nightly basis.

She let out a deep sigh and felt Spike's hand move to rub her back. She used to spend so much time worrying over her lifestyle, until she had finally taught herself to forget it. She was okay with it, and it used to be that no one else matter besides herself. But now, with Buffy and Xander and Willow, she found herself drudging up her old concerns and worries. She wouldn't let Buffy kill Angelus, but she wouldn't let Angelus kill Buffy, either.

So where did she belong, with the Slayer? Or with the vampire? The Slayer who was committed to helping the innocent, to slaying evil, or the vampire who had taken care of her throughout her life, who had shown her the world and had become her father, her brother, her lover, and her best friend after the death of her parents?

Cora cleared her head of all of her thoughts. The gentle pressure of Spike's cold hand on her back was making her drowsy again. She allowed herself to relax completely against him, and soon she was asleep again.


	14. Chapter 14

Angelus woke up just as the last rays of sun disappeared from under the crypt's wooden door. He had fallen asleep on Spike's couch, a bottle of whiskey tucked between his body and the cushions.

Getting up slowly, he looked around the empty room.

"Where the hell is everyone?" he muttered to himself. Rubbing his head, he tried to recall last night's events. The last thing he remembered, he and Spike had been playing a game of poker with two demons at Willy's. Apparently Angelus had consumed more than just the bottle of whiskey he had found upon waking, because he couldn't remember anything after that.

Suddenly he remembered Cora. Spike was supposed to get her from Buffy's. What if the idiot had forgotten? Or what if Cora had walked home by herself…?

Angelus went to check the lower area of the crypt. Climbing down the stairs quickly, he was stopped abruptly by the sight that he found.

Spike was asleep on the old armchair beside the bookcase. Cora was curled up in his lap, her head tucked against his shoulder. One of his arms rested lightly around her sleeping body, the other laid on her lap.

Angelus shook his head and let a small growl escape his lips. The growl was enough to wake the sleeping form of Cora. Angelus saw her open her eyes, blinking back the last bit of the sleep she had been interrupted from. She saw Angelus staring at her place on Spike's lap. The blonde vampire beneath her continued to sleep soundly.

Cora got up slowly, nearing Angelus with caution. It shouldn't be that surprising to him, she reminded herself. After all, Angelus had seen her and Spike together before. Angel knew how Cora felt about him—to a degree.

Angelus growled again, and his nostrils flared as the small girl approached him.

"Let's go up," Cora grabbed his arm gently to turn him back towards the stairs, wanting to keep the sleeping Spike out of Angelus' anger.

"Let me kill him first," Angelus made a move toward Spike, but Cora held his arm more firmly.

"Up," she instructed.

Angelus let out a short aggravated sigh and then followed Cora upstairs. He stayed silent until they reached the couch. Cora motioned for him to sit down. Angel declined. He would rather yell at her, actually he would rather beat her senseless, than sit comfortably with her on the couch and talk.

"Angel…" she started, unsure of how to begin. "We didn't…"

Angelus stopped her before she could say more. "I told you last time if I caught him touching you I'd dust him myself," Angel said through clenched teeth.

"Last time? Last time, you had disappeared and left me by myself for a month. Spike was the only one I even _knew _when you left me in Chicago." Cora wasn't about to let him try and tell her what to do about Spike anymore.

"Cora—" he started again.

"No, Angelus." Cora shook her head firmly. "Our deal is the same, and I keep up with everything that is expected of me. No where was it written that _your girl_ was yours alone. If you get what I'm saying."

"You know what, don't say anything about it then, Cora. I don't want to talk about it. Just wanted to get you away from him."

"But Angel we need to…"

Angelus switched from human to vampire guise immediately and let out a fierce growl. "I said no," he repeated through clenched teeth, his fangs visible.

Cora nodded her head understandably. "Okay, Angel."

Cora and Angelus hadn't noticed that Spike had awoken a few moments after Cora got up. He was standing at the top of the stairs looking back and forth between the two of them with raised eyebrows.

"Don't say a word, boy," Angelus instructed.

Spike's mouth fell into a small twisted grin at Angelus' anger. "Right. So," he addressed Cora, "I was thinkin' love…"

"A first…" Angelus interjected.

Spike ignored him. "I was thinkin' we do some patrolling of our own tonight. You know, get some violence in, some crushin' and breakin'."

"Sounds like fun," Cora smiled. She knew how much Spike loved fighting.

She turned to Angel. "Want to come baby?" she asked him, knowing he would give an excuse. He had made it perfectly clear that, although he was okay with Cora's slaying, he would take no part in what he called 'being a traitor' to his own kind.

"You know what…yeah I think I'll go."

Cora looked at him inquisitively with raised eyebrows.

"Just to watch of course. I love to watch you fight, baby." He grabbed her around the waste and smiled at Spike. "As long as that's okay with you of course Spike."

"No problem, mate. You can just sit back and enjoy the show." Spike had already turned and was heading towards the fridge, getting himself a very late breakfast.

"Well, this is going to be fun," Cora observed, releasing herself of Angelus' grasp and following Spike to the fridge to get herself a snack. "Very fun…"

---------------------

Cora had spent the rest of the night playing, believe it or not, poker with the two vampires. Considering how much time she had spent with Spike growing up, the partial Slayer was actually very good, showing up both of the centuries old vampires.

Then, around one in the morning, after Cora had successfully beaten them both numerous times, the trio set out to patrol. They started out just circling Spike's cemetery, eventually moving to the edges of it and then criss-crossing different parts of Sunnydale. Angelus spent his time either with an arm possessively around Cora's shoulders, despite her numerous requests that he move it, or lagging behind Cora and Spike. It was clear that he was there to keep an eye on the two, not to help.

When they had entered the second cemetery, Spike stopped a few tombstones in. Cora heard it too. Quiet and persistent chanting lay on the other side of the nearby trees. Although they couldn't see who was doing the chanting, Cora could smell incense and smoke. Spike could smell demons.

"Three of them, love. Can't make out what they're saying, though."

"Maybe we should let the poor guys do their thing…no reason to interrupt," Angelus suggested, leaning against a nearby tree and pulling out a pack of cigarettes.

"Maybe you should have stayed back," Cora rebutted.

Angelus shrugged carelessly, lighting up his cigarette through a small grin. "Want one baby?" he asked suggestively.

Cora made a disgusted face and then turned back to Spike. The blonde vampire looked like he was just waiting to jump in for the fight. Before either of them had a chance to move to the chanting demons, a scream echoed through the woods. A young girl, and she sounded terrified.

Cora didn't hesitate. She pounced out past the trees to confront the demons. The saw the young girl, no more than four years old, lying tied up on a type of stone alter. Around the alter was the cause of the smoke and incense Cora had smelt. They had the child surrounded by fire.

Spike had followed Cora immediately. He jumped into the fight, punching the first demon out of the way. As the first one fell, the other two teamed up to keep Cora and Spike from gaining any ground towards the young sacrifice.

Cora didn't recognize the demons. They were at least seven feet tall, and their faces consisted of what looked like burnt, crinkled leather. Their eyes could hardly be found in their dark face. The only thing that gave away their location was the fire that glowed menacingly in the dark eyes.

Seconds after Spike had punched the first demon out of the way, it had already recovered, and it quickly joined the other two to outnumber Cora and Spike.

Cora ducked from a heavy punch that would have knocked her out, calling over her shoulder as she did so. "Damnit Angelus we need some help."

Angelus had moved to a nearby tree where he could watch the action and was still calmly taking drags from his cigarette.

Spike had taken a kick in the legs and had fallen to his knees. Cora worked at keeping them away from him just long enough for Spike to regain his composure and help her. She landed a strong kick on one of their chests, sending the demon flying backwards. Quickly, she punched the second one, trying to gain ground before the first could recover. Before she had brought her arm back from the punch, the third demon had aimed a powerful punch at Cora's stomach, sending her flying backwards. A scream was heard from inside the fire.

"Angelus, please!" Cora panted, her arm clutching her side. She wiped a small trail of blood from her mouth and got up slowly, using a headstone for support. She could feel her lower ribs cracking as she adjuster her position to stand. Spike had gotten up and had two of the demons beaten back. The fire was getting higher and higher around the alter, and the child couldn't be heard any more.

Angelus looked at Cora inquisitively, one of his eyebrows cocked. He took another long drag on his cigarette and was briefly curious about where the third demon had gone.

-----------------------

Giles had gone out with Buffy on her patrol that evening. The night had been exceptionally quiet—not a single vamp or demon to deal with. So Slayer and Watcher had been catching each other up on different things, enjoying the quiet night. They had been patrolling for almost an hour when Buffy had heard screaming. Rounding the corner of one of the crypts that was in her path, she ran towards the noise, Giles following behind her.

She covered the distance quickly, glancing over her shoulder to check for Giles. Surprisingly, her Watcher had kept pace with her. She knew she was close to the commotion when she smelt the smoke. Just beyond a nearby patch of trees, she could hear fighting.

She slowed her speed, wanting to approach the situation cautiously instead of rashly. Together, her and Giles walked through the dense trees into the clearing ahead. They both stopped in their tracks when they heard someone shout.

"Angelus, please!"

Buffy looked for the source of the voice. She saw Cora on the ground, her arm grabbing at her injured side. Nearby, Spike was taking on two very creepy looking demons at once. Then, Buffy saw who Cora had been pleading with. Angelus was casually smoking a cigarette by a tree not ten feet from Cora.

Just then, the old vampire seemed to realize something. All of a sudden, cigarette still in hand, he reached to his side and drew out a small dagger.

"Cora, behind you," he shouted as he tossed it to her.

Cora followed his direction instantly and without hesitation. She grabbed the dagger in midair and, without pausing to look behind her, swung her arm back. The dagger met the tall demon right in the gut, and he swaggered backwards a step or two before falling. Cora allowed herself to give Angelus one short look of gratitude before forcing herself up from the ground.

Without a thought, she jumped through the fire and onto the stone alter that lay in the middle, searching for the child in the thick smoke.

Buffy and Giles had watched Cora kill the demon. As Cora jumped through the flames, Buffy made her way swiftly towards Spike to take out the other two demons. Together, vampire and Slayer killed them both. Spike snapped one's neck, while Buffy—following her own traditional methods—staked the other one, leaving not dust, but blood and a body.

Giles was torn between watching the battle and keeping his attention on the young brunette girl he had watched jump through the fire.

Cora had barely been able to find the small child. Her mouth was still filled with the taste of blood from the knockout hit she had received from one of the demons. After a few desperate minutes, she had found the little girl, who was curled up not on the alter but behind it, leaning against the hot stones. Cora tried to pick the young girl up, who couldn't have weighed very much, but found that she could hardly do it thanks to what felt like many broken ribs.

She bit her bottom lip, considering her situation. Smoke was consuming all of the oxygen in the air surrounding her, and she found herself gasping. She covered the child with her own body and tried once again to move her, but found that she could barely lift herself up.

"Angel," she called as loud as she could.

Angelus had thrown his cigarette down the second the stupid girl had jumped through the flames. Spike and the Slayer were still battling the two demons, and Angelus was cursing Cora for what she was about to make him do. He had heard her call to him, and he could feel her desperate need for oxygen—for life. He quickly glanced around the clearing. The Slayer's Watcher was watching him with a curious expression. Angel growled and then moved quickly and purposefully toward the fire.

His only concern had been Cora—he didn't care at all if the kid lived or died—but she pushed him away when he tried to pick her up, insisting that he carried the little girl instead. Finally, Angelus had thrown the unconscious child over his shoulder and then scooped up Cora in his arms. It was unbearably hot where the flames met the alter, and although Angelus didn't need to breathe, even he could understand the desperate need for clean air.

Angelus crossed out of the flames just as Spike and Buffy had finished killing their respective demons. Angelus was ready to dump the young girl on the ground, but the Watcher was already there, catching the child in his own arms and carrying her a few feet away from Angelus and Cora.

Angel kneeled on the ground, Cora still in his arms. The girl was unconscious, but a small trail of blood leaked from the side of her mouth.

He was definitely going to kill her when she woke up.

He brushed one hand across her face, wiping her hair out of her eyes. "Cora?" he asked quietly. He spent what seemed like an unbearably long time just looking Cora over—her clothes were singed and her face was black and sweaty from the flames. Her arm was burnt. He could nearly feel her breaking in his arms. So Angelus didn't even notice the Slayer walking up behind him.

"We need to get her inside somewhere," she instructed. "Giles already left with the little girl in his car to take her to the hospital. His house is the closest though—"

Angelus growled violently.

"We should get there the same time as him," Buffy finished, ignoring him. "Come on." She turned away from Angelus and Spike and led the way through the clearing towards the outer part of the cemetery.

Spike watched her walk off and then reached toward Cora.

"Don't," Angelus said.

"Let's get her to the Watcher's, mate. He'll know what to do."

Without question, Angelus got up and followed Spike out of the clearing.

"Damnit Cora," he muttered under his breath again, pushing her closer to his body in a protective manner and following Spike out of the cemetery.


	15. Chapter 15

Buffy had been right about getting to Giles'. The Watcher got there only minutes after them, and he unlocked his door quickly, motioning for them to bring Cora inside.

Buffy and Spike followed the Watcher in without delay. Angelus still carried Cora, but stopped a half step from the door, growling loudly.

Buffy and Giles turned to look at him, realization dawning on Buffy's face. Her face grew hard and serious, and she turned slightly to Giles. "Giles…you have to…" She nodded toward Angelus who was still standing menacingly outside of Giles' place.

"Oh, right," Giles' face grew contemplative for a moment, taking the seriousness of the situation in. Invite a dangerous killer into his home? Probably not such a good idea…

"What the bleedin' hell do you think you're doing? Invite him the hell in!" Spike yelled. He was concerned about Cora only, not about the damn human Watcher's worries about getting a bite from a vampire.

"Yes, well, I suppose…you can bring her in." Giles stepped cautiously out of the vampire's way as he gently carried Cora in the house and laid her down on the couch. He barely moved back from her after he laid her down, preferring to stay right at her side.

Giles went to get a bowl of water and a washcloth. Spike had moved to Cora's side next to Angelus and gently felt her ribs.

"She's got a few breaks," he inspected. "Nothin' she won't heal from though. Not too bad."

Giles had returned with the water and was once again confused at how to handle the situation. Buffy stood silently out of the way. After a second's hesitation, Angel reached over and grabbed the bowl and rag from the Watcher, startling him.

"Idiot," Angel muttered, wiping the ash and smoke from Cora's face. Angelus could feel the girl's relief, could feel her waking up and coming to. Suddenly, her hand reached up and grabbed his, stopping it from wetting the washcloth again.

"Me?" she asked quietly, a small cough coming from her lips.

"Well you're always an idiot, but I was talking about the old watchman here," Angelus replied, a small smile playing in his eyes.

Cora let out a sigh, placing Angel's hand against her cheek.

"You would have let me burn," she observed, looking at him critically and as seriously as she could in her condition.

"Never," he said.

"I bloody well hope this is the last time you're going to do something so stupid, love. I'm getting' right tired of takin' care of you." Spike moved into Cora's line of vision, and sat on the arm of the couch at Cora's feet, placing a hand on her leg gently.

"Promise," Cora agreed.

"Seriously, you're taking the vampire right out of me," Angel said, moving his hand through Cora's hair. She closed her eyes in pleasure.

"Finally—someone needed to," Buffy spoke, rising from her spot in the corner of the room. "Will she be okay?" she asked, addressing Spike.

"Yeah, love. You oughta know; not much can keep a Slayer down." Spike smiled at Buffy.

Cora moved to push herself to a sitting position on the couch, but a strong firm hand pushed her back down.

"Don't be even stupider than you are, Cora. Just lie there for a while," Angelus instructed.

Cora lay back down without argument. A few minutes later, and without her knowledge, she drifted into unconsciousness. Angelus still did not leave her side.

"I suppose she should stay here for the night," Giles observed, cleaning his glasses at the end of the couch by Spike. He was clearly fond of keeping his distance from Angelus.

"No," Angelus said, standing defiantly. "She's staying with me."

"You can't move her like this," Buffy interjected. "It'll make her worse."

"I'm not leaving her unprotected in this state in a place like this," Angelus said, gesturing to Giles' book filled living room.

"Stay here with her, Angelus," Spike said. "You stay—I'll go out and try to figure what it was those demons were up to."

Giles had nearly choked at Spike's suggestion.

"Stay…here?" he repeated, his hands clenched tightly around his glasses. "I don't…no."

"Scared Rupert?" Angel asked him, taking a step towards him dangerously.

"Of the deranged insane evil _maniacal_ vampire in my home? Of course not. You only _tortured_ me. We're great old chums," Giles said sarcastically.

"Oh I won't touch you, you old fool," Angel said, rolling his eyes. "It's just for her," he added quietly.

"I'll stay in the guest bedroom, Giles," Buffy offered. "Not that I care," she added quickly, "but we can't let Angelus move her…she'll get hurt. He'll just have to stay here," she said simply.

"Well, well all bloody right," Giles gave in reluctantly—very reluctantly; he wasn't very sure about Angelus staying in his _home_.

"I'll be down here with her." Buffy understood her Watcher's concern.

Giles nodded, a short reluctant show of approval.

"Well, I'll be back later," Spike said, turning toward to door. He took a step toward it before seeming to remember something. He turned back around, crossed the room to Angelus and bent low toward the vampire, whispering quietly enough so that no one could hear but him. Angelus let out a small growl at whatever it was Spike had confided in him, and gave one blunt nod of his head. Then Spike turned and left.

"And I suppose I'll be heading to my room," Giles said turning toward the stairs. "And will be arming myself with stakes and holy water and crosses," he muttered to himself.

"I'll take the second bedroom," Buffy said, heading in that direction. She turned to Angelus before closing the door behind her. She caught his eyes, and the look that she gave him needed no words. It was as firm of a reminder that she could give—if he did anything, she'd fight him till her last breath. In response, Angelus gave her a cocky smile.

The Slayer closed the door behind her, and Angelus made himself comfortable on the couch beside Cora. He smiled to himself as the small girl turned herself inward toward him unconsciously. She buried her face in his chest, leaving plenty of room between herself and the edge of the couch. Angel put a protective arm around her and then spent a while listening to the girl's breathing. Before the sun could rise, he had fallen asleep beside her.

------------------------

Giles woke up later than usual that day. They had not gotten to bed until nearly four in the morning, and, very unlike Giles, he had slept till eleven. He got out of his bed slowly, careful not to knock over the full bowl of holy water he had set beside his bed the night before. He put on his robe and moved towards the stairs, a stake tucked into the robe's pocket. Just in case, he reminded himself.

Giles went down the stairs slowly, cautiously approaching the scene that would lay before him on the main floor. For some reason, he was expecting blood and corpses. When he could finally see the living room, he stopped in midstep. In all his years as Watcher he had never seen something that had surprised him as much as the scene that lay before him.

Spike had obviously returned—probably just before daylight. He had taken some of Giles' blankets out of the trunk that was behind the couch and had hung them over the windows, carefully keeping the sunlight out of the room. The blonde vampire was asleep on Giles' recliner. Giles turned his attention to the couch.

His eyes widened as he took in the two people—well, one Slayer and one vampire—who were asleep on the couch. Angelus' body lay in the corner of the couch, one arm under his head, the other wrapped around the body of the girl that lay next to him. Cora was lying comfortably against the vampire. She faced him, and her face was buried in his chest. Her chest rose and fell evenly with each breath. Giles shook his head in wonder at how incredibly comfortable and safe the girl looked, despite the monster who slept beside her. Giles had been so intently studying the two that he hadn't noticed Angel open his eyes.

"See something interesting, Watcher?" the vampire asked quietly. He tightened his hold on Cora and used his other arm to prop up his head so as to look at the Watcher better.

"Oh," Giles said, startled, "I was just…the kitchen. On my way," he said nervously.

"Breakfast," Angel mused. "Sounds delicious…"

Cora had woken up to their soft voices. She caught Angel's eye before he could say anything else. She shook her head gently from side to side, and Angelus let out a short aggravated sigh.

"Well I _am_ hungry," he said calmly.

Cora's eyes gave him a silent warning, and Angelus was silent.

Giles noticed that the sleeping form beside the vampire had woken. "Feeling well today, Cora?" Giles asked, approaching the couch slowly.

Cora didn't move from her comfortable position against Angelus. She knew her body should instinctively pull away from the vampire, from the cool hard body, from the murderer who Angelus was, but despite it all, she never felt more safe or comfortable than when she was lying against him.

"Not much," she admitted, turning her head to look at the Watcher. "Thank you so much for your help, Mr. Giles," she said. "I'm sorry I haven't taken the time to come and formally meet you."

"Oh, it's nothing at all," Giles said. "And please, just Giles," he added.

"Well, _Giles_," Angelus had found his voice again. "If you don't mind, I think my girl here needs some more sleep."

"Yes, well I'll be heading up in a minute," Giles answered.

Cora gave a polite, apologetic laugh. "It's your house, Giles, please feel free to do whatever you need to do. I sleep easily." It was a lie—Cora never slept easily…she never had. She always seemed to be well rested, and yet when she tried to sleep she often found herself unwilling to completely relax and rest or she woke up to unknown nightmares.

Angelus cocked an eyebrow at her, something only Cora could see. He knew that she didn't sleep easily either; he had spent many nights—or days considering what time they were sleeping during—trying to help the girl sleep, or he would stay up with her, teaching her something new or watching television or reading. Angelus didn't say anything about Cora's lie. He just continued to watch her talk to Giles.

"Well, I suppose I'll retire to my study for a while anyways—catch up on some reading for a few hours," Giles said. "Get some rest, Cora, er…Angelus." With that, Giles disappeared down the hallway. Cora heard a door click quietly into place.

She turned back toward Angelus so that she could completely face him, burying her head in his chest again.

"You saved me last night…and that little girl," she said quietly.

"No—I saved you. The curse remember? You were just too damn stubborn to let me save _just _you."

"Right; you would have let me die," she said with a cocky, questioning grin.

"Right, I would have," Angelus replied simply, although he and she both knew that he would have saved her—curse or no curse.

"Thanks," Cora simply said. Her head fit perfectly against his chest and underneath his chin, and she found herself moving instinctively toward that comfortable spot. Surprisingly, she fell asleep within minutes of finding it.

-------------------------

When Giles finally ventured out of his study later in the day, he opened the door to hear laughing coming from the living room. He checked on Buffy on his way down the hallway—his Slayer was still asleep. He shook his head, chuckling silently, and then closed the door to her room. He made his way into the living room to see who exactly was awake.

He found Angelus and Cora in nearly the same position. However, Angelus had moved to a more seated position on the couch, with Cora now leaning back comfortably against the vampire's chest. Spike had moved to sit on the coffee table, leaning back against his hands. He and Cora were laughing about something. Angelus was silent. But Giles was once again mystified when he saw that Angelus was gently rubbing Cora's shoulders.

Angel sensed the old man before he heard him. He was standing there in the hallway staring at Cora, Angelus, and Spike.

Angelus shook his head. "Audience," he said simply.

Cora turned her head and noticed the Watcher standing in the hallway.

"Giles, good morning," she greeted.

"Well, late afternoon actually," he said with a smile.

Cora laughed. "Yeah I guess so," she replied.

"Are you hungry or anything?" Giles asked hospitably; he knew the girl would need food in order to return to her full strength. "I'm sure I have something that you'd like," he offered.

"Actually, Spike made me some toast and eggs just a little while ago," Cora said, gesturing to an empty plate on the coffee table beside the blonde vampire. "I hope that was okay," she added quickly.

"Of course," Giles said, surprised again at the notion of Spike cooking. He contemplated it for a moment. "Spike cooks then?" he asked.

"Of course I can bloody cook," Spike answered for himself. "Very well, actually."

Angelus snorted. "The only thing you've ever cooked on your own is frozen pizza you idiot," he said.

"Not true," Cora interjected. "He used to make me breakfast all the time when we were in Paris, those months when Dru was lost."

"Drusilla?" Giles asked curiously, drawing closer to his three guests.

Cora laughed. "Yeah, she got lost in Europe. She was supposed to meet us in Paris but ended up God knows where," she explained to the Watcher. Then she turned to Spike. "You two did live in Europe—she knew that much right?" Cora laughed again.

"Bugger if I know," Spike replied. "She didn't know if she was on Earth or in the sky half the time, love."

"Crazy bitch," Angel said.

"You would know," Spike replied harshly. "You tortured her into one."

"May have..." Angelus let his words drift off as he thought back. "But she was the most fun I've ever had..."

"Spike, Angelus, stop," Cora said, wanting to change the subject. There was no need to put so much terrible history out on the table in front of Giles.

"Just saying," Angelus said with a shrug.

Cora smiled apologetically, hoping Giles hadn't been paying too close attention to one of the more terrible parts of Angelus' history.

"I think I'll be fine to go home tonight, Giles," Cora said, returning her attention to the Watcher.

"Perhaps you should spend one more night here, so as to not strain yourself. I believe you had quite a few ribs broken. They'd do their best healing with you lying still, I'd imagine," Giles replied, crossing his arms.

Buffy had emerged from her bedroom during their conversation and was standing beside Giles, still looking pretty tired.

"I agree with Doc here," Buffy said with a yawn.

Cora looked ready to argue, but Spike interrupted her before she had the chance to begin.

"She'll stay," Spike said sternly. When he saw the look on her face, he added with an evil grin, "You can't come back to my place tonight, love. You've nowhere to go but here, so might as well stay comfortable."

Cora narrowed her eyes at him. So she was going to have to try and keep Angel out of Giles' and Buffy's way for a whole day? She adjusted her body weight so that she was more comfortably leaning against the vampire's cool body. She hoped Angel would behave.


End file.
